Down the Rabbit hole (Outdated)
by IWhackRabbits
Summary: What do you do when you get a falling apart base as your first command post? You make the best of it, that's what. Join commander Avaro "Rabbit" Jackson as he deals with commanding the worst possible base and whatever hell comes knocking.
1. Welcome Commander

"Wow...what a shit hole"

A man wearing a red military beret remarks, as a loud thud crash could be heard close by, making a sweat bead form on his forehead.

"This shit hole is going to be your home for who knows how long… probably until you die" Another man stated as they did one final check on the plane.

"Tell me something I don't know"

The unknown man dragged a small duffle bag out from his side of the plane, just as the engine came to life and the propeller started up. "Have fun in paradise!" They commented before closing up the door and going down the makeshift runway.

"Fucking asshole" He mutters as he walked towards a building with a rather large hole in the roof. It would explain the loud crash he heard as he arrived. Course, the crash could be chalked up to numerous things, since the entire base was crumbling apart. Burnt out munition shells and stripped vehicles littered the area around the base.

Dropping his bag near what he assumed used to be a communication station, he searched his coat pocket for his herbal cigars. He wouldn't get addicted to the things, but the herbs used to make the thing released tar, and sooner or later it would fuck up his lungs. Of course, that would be problems for future him, if he lived that long that is. He clicked his tongue then moved his hand to his breast pocket, before finding them and taking one out. "Now, where the hell is my lighter?" He muttered as he searched his many pockets for the aforementioned lighter."Why the fuck do I have so many goddamned pockets?! Who the hell needs this many pockets?" he barked out, rather frustrated that he couldn't find the damn thing.

He let out a sigh, letting the unlit cigar hang out of his mouth, not wanting to get worked up over a small matter. Then again, that lighter was special to him, and he liked it too, since he had a small engraved rabbit on one side while on the other had the number 43.

"Commander Jackson?" A high enough pitched voice asked. While the pitch of the voice wasn't annoying, it clearly left no doubt it was female.

"Depending on the present company I suppose" Jackson replied as he leaned against the wall "But since you haven't tried to shoot, stab or knock me out, you must be Galil"

Small bits of movement, along with what he assumed was her weapon, moved around, and he turned around enough to see her snap to attention, which amused him a bit.

"Galil reporting for duty! I'll be counting on you!" She exclaimed, leaving him chuckling lightly.

"At ease" he stated as a silence consumed them as they stood out in open doing nothing.

"Commander?"

"Call me Avaro"

"Come again?" Galil questioned his remark, as she was taken a bit back.

"Or Rabbit, Maybe Jack. Hell some even call me Arrow" He commented as his left shoulder rose up a little, but quickly brought back down. "Call me commander if ya want, but it's a little odd to me in all honesty. So, whatcha need?"

"Avaro?"

"Speaking"

"This fell out of your pocket when you dropped your bag." She said while holding the lighter he had spent a bit looking for.

"How the hell did I not notice it fall?" Avaro commented on his stupidity as he took back the lighter. On the outside, it looked like a fancy Zippo light, but as he flicked it open and lit up his cigar it was obvious it was actually electrical.

Having some common courtesy, he blew the smoke away from her general direction. Letting the now lit cigar hang from his mouth, he picked up his duffle bag before turning to her.

"Are there others, or is it just us?" Avaro asked noticing the lack of other people or dolls. As if to make a point, a small cloud of dust blew past them.

"There's a rifle doll with us, but she's setting up your… 'Office'".

Avaro cocked a brow, noticing her tone when she mentioned his office, but if it was anything like the rest of this place he was expecting to just see a milk crate and a wooden spool as his table… maybe a wooden spool on wheels if he was lucky

"Alright, so where's it at?" Questioning her as he slung his bag over his back

"Over there"

Avaro followed her finger and could see it was a small distance away. Needless to say, it was a trailer that had old lawn chairs around a makeshift grill, which had small bits of smoke coming from it.

'How the hell did I miss the smoke? I'm not that tired… I think' He pondered as they slowly grew closer to said trailer.

"Over there is the pump giving us filtered water. Sadly the boiler needs to be replaced and some of the pipes around base need to as well, but otherwise we mostly have running water." Galil stated without knowing her commander had spaced out.

'Oh shit she's giving a tour'

Shaking his head lightly, he paid attention to her as she talked about another building they were walking by "Over there is what used to be a hangar and garage. There's tools and a working vehicle. We would have used it, but you came sooner than expected" Galil sheepishly remarked as her cheek turned a hint of red.

Avaro shrugged and the unexpected tour went on as they grew closer to his office.

"Over there used to a guard tower… but either due to neglect or attacks, it feel over" she stated as Avaro eyes nearly popped out of their socket. The top half of the tower had fallen through the roof of what may have been storage at one point in time.

"Does it get worse or better from here on out?"

"It used to be much worse, your office used to be ridden with mold. But, with cleaning supplies and a little elbow grease, it now 100% mold free!" she gleefully stated as the cigar in Avaro's mouth slipped.

'This base will kill me before the enemy does' Avaro thought to himself as he shook his head and wondered why the hell he got stuck here… oh yeah, he barely passed the G&K commander test… by one point actually.

Then again, the people in his particular group were filled with people that always had silver spoons in their mouths, but he would just chalk it up to his low score. What really killed him was the math section. Reading compression was a cake walk, science and tactics slightly above average understanding of, it was math that did him in. Graphs are easy enough to read, but complex equations took him a good while and that was to make an educated guess. For him to get a correct answer would take longer than he would like to admit, but that was then and he was stuck here.

"Commander?" Gali's voice put a halt to his thoughts as he jumped up a little

"Yeah?"

"We're here at your office..."

Avaro looked around and sure enough... they were standing outside of the trailer. He noticed a blue tarp on the roof, the door had a patched hole in the middle that looked last minute, and the window had fucking duct tape patching numerous bullet holes.

"This is certainly...interesting..." he remarked as Galil laughed nervously as she opened the door before stepping inside followed by Avaro. Two steps in part poppers went off and a banner came down reading "Welcome Commander Jackson!"

Avaro blinked a few times, Galil shrank down a little thinking that he was mad, shuffling could be heard before confetti fell onto him, and a party horn went off near his ear, causing him to wince. He turned to the offender while rubbing his right ear.

A blonde with two pigtails, pale skin, blue eyes, and uniform colored red, white, and a hint of brown all while exposing a a bit of cleavage, oh and he almost forgot about the red beret that somewhat matched his.

"Name."

"S-sir?"

"Name...please" Avaro added as he made eye contact with the doll who clearly looked terrified and maybe even ready to pass out.

"VM59, sir!" she managed to stutter out

Still rubbing his ear he pats her on the head, snatched the party horn, and threw it out the opened door with his left hand. "VM59, please never do that again. I like being able to hear"

"Yes sir.." she remarked before letting out a breath she wasn't aware she held in.

"Splendid! Now then, where is my desk and did any boxes come in before I arrived?" He asked ignoring the small cake on the table under the banner.

Galil huffed a little and VM59 chimed in. "In the next room. As for any boxes, a few did. Two are from headquarters, and one is from a commander named Briggs" she stated as she stood near a much more tidy looking door. He motioned for to open it and she did.

The office was kinda what he expected, surprisingly not as shit-tastic as he first thought. Had a wooden spool (with wheels) as a table, used office chair (top half had bits of tape covering holes), and of course, three boxes stacked on each other.

The walls were intact and the window had bits of tape (not shocking at the slightest), and wooden floor that creaked with every step. He dropped his bag near his desk and sat on his chair taking everything in. Letting out a deep sigh, he leaned a little to his left taking the first and smallest package. A wide rectangular box

"From Briggs." He stated to no one in particular and one brief struggle latter he got the package open. Reaching inside his hand made contact with another rectangular box, it even had a card on top! He cracked a small smile and opened up the card.

"Welcome to the real fight kid

Don't bite the dust before we do, ya hear? Otherwise, we'll have to bring your ass back to life and kill you ourselves. Ditch what the books say, remember what we taught you, and trust yourself.

You may be your own commander now, but to me you'll always be that one kid who grew up alongside the damned 43

-Briggs & Members of the Damned 43"

Avaro's smile grew larger with each word he read and perhaps he wanted to shed a tear, but if Briggs ever got whiff of it he would never hear the end of it. So, with all the willpower he could muster, he held it in. Setting down the card turning his attention to the next small wooden box, he opened it up like a kid on Christmas morning.

Inside, and he probably should have guessed it, were nice thick herbal cigars and a sticky note on top saying "For those special occasions". He chuckled a little before placing the card and box down on his desk.

Reaching back into the package now on his lap, he felt another wooden box. Pulling it out, he raised a brow seeing this one was much smaller and lighter. Perhaps a special cigar? Opening it, he was a shocked to see a wooden pipe. Given by the engravings on the side, it was custom made, and seeing that it was rather dark, it's material was dark oak. It even came with a small wooden stand to hold it up. Reaching back into the package, he pulled out small tins of grinded herbs marked Peppermint, Skullcap, and his favorite, Mugwort. Again letting out a small smile, he placed them down on his desk before once again going back into the box, this time finding an envelope.

Opening that, he found pictures from his transformation from a chubby little kid to his final days at the base with the others and their dolls. He placed them back into the envelope and onto the corner of his desk. This was no time to get emotional, not when this place could be attacked at anytime, and was barely functional.

"Commander?" Both Galil and VM59 said as their sensors picked up his emotional distress.

Avaros attitude did a complete 180. He sat up straight and looked at them, finally remembering he was a commander and let his emotions get the better of him. He cleared his throat and once again gave him his blank face "Yes?"

"... need help unpacking your things?" Galil asked taking note of his attitude change.

"Mm? Yeah sure. Open and sort out the large package, I'll deal with the medium"Hhe commanded as he lifted it up and put on his desk "Do we have a knife or any sharp object?" He asked noting that this had lots of tape on it.

Few minutes and two unpacked packages later, Avaros office was a lot more of a mess. A small satellite dish leaned against his desk, along with a small antenna. On his desk was a work laptop with a router and the assorted wires. Some sort of small drone laid on the floor, hygienic items cluttered a small corner, and of course, papers were in his hands.

"Congratulations and Computers typed greeting BS… instillation stuff… ordering material… they're aware of my shit base and sending things my way… ah here we go my objectives…. Search and rescue, FOB refueling aircraft, and defending settlements " Avaro mutters as he skimmed the papers in his hand. He clicked his tongue and tossed the papers onto his desk knocking over the pipe.

He caught it mid air and sighed in relief, before putting it back up on its small stand. "Might as well install that Antenna and satellite dish" He murmured as he started to pick up the two items,some cable, and of course, the instructions.

"Commander, whatcha doing?' Galil inquired noticing him stepping outside of the trailer

"Installing some things so we can at least have bare bones communication and internet here" he replied as he stepped outside, quickly tailed by her.

"Commander?" VM called out seeing Avaro walk to the side of the trailer

"Installing things" he replied, already knowing what she wanted to ask him.

VM looked at Galil, who gave a small shrug unsure what to do. Avaro, for his part, dropped the materials carefully onto the ground, before using a rope that held down the cheap blue tarp.

"Commander!" both Galil and MB called out seeing the person they're supposed to protect do something rather dangerous.

"Relax… I got… this!" He exclaimed as he pulled himself up onto the roof. Slowly standing up, he tested the parts not covered in blue tarp and was confident enough that his weight wouldn't go crashing through.

Stepping carefully, he went towards the area where his office stood "One of you hand me the antenna and the cable, while the other goes to my office to set up the router" he commanded as he stood there getting a better view of things.

The two stood there a little flustered on what he did, despite the fact that he could have told them to do it instead. "Today would be nice ya know!" he barked causing the two to recoil, before quickly going about their tasks

A few short moments later VM was in the office standing near the window, Galil was holding cable and Avaro… well Avaro was balancing, trying to latch the antenna onto the trailer and not fall off the roof. Getting the thing to finally latch onto the side of the trailer, he connected the cable running it down near the window, Galil inserts it through a re-opened hole, and VM pulled it in.

"Okay, now hand me the satellite dish, hand me the screw, tripod, and the manual hand drill" Avaro commanded Galil as he held out his hand for the objects. Galil, as you would expect, handed each item one at a time.

"Commander?" Galil called out as Avaro set up the tripod at an angle

"Yes?"

"You do realize that you could have asked us to do this, right?" she questioned as she held the actual satellite dish

"I do, but I like being busy. Was never a fan of just doing desk work, prefer to hands on work" He responded as he started to drill down one of the legs of the tripod. "Besides, there's not much to do right now"

"Right"

A few moments passed before Avaro put his hand down, motioning for the dish. Once he had it in his hands, he went about setting it up. Attaching a cable here and making it questionably stand up, Avaro jumped down to the ground (Much to the annoyance of the dolls and his knees).

"Right, now for some minor set up and we should finally be able to communicate with others" Avaro stated as they went back inside "If we're lucky we'll get two megabyte internet" he joked as they walked into his office, with VM setting up a set of small boxes and attaching some smaller cables, all of which connected to the side of a medium sized box that a single landline cord coming out from the bottom, which was connected to a modem that finally broadcast some sort of WIFI.

The wires were a mess (and that's putting it nicely), but Avaro opted to deal with that later as he started up his laptop, typed in his pin and inserted his ID to the side port, before connected to the secure net. "Wow… it was worse than I thought…. only 500 kilobits a second… FUCK!"

MB and Galil jumped hearing him actually scream for the first time. Avaro sighs before sitting down on his chair and looked at his laptop getting notifications of emails that would take a while to open and read. He clicked on one and picked up a different piece of paper.

"Okay, the drone used to assess the state of the base and advise course of action… may need a one gigabyte update… MOTHERFUCKER" He barked as he sunk his head into his hands, leaving the two dolls in front of him unaware of how to react to this sort of thing.

"Fuck it, whatever" he remarked as he picked up the drone and did whatever he had to connect it to his laptop and network. "Course there's an update...500 megabytes..." he sighs and looked at the two.

"So what's to eat around here?"

"Uhhh… MREs and canned fruit" Galil remarked causing Avaro to let another sigh out as he should have figured as much, but for whatever reason hoped it would be better.

"We have a small cake if you want it..may be a little cold though" Galil went on causing him to perk up a little.

"Please. And VM, kindly get the MREs" he commanded as he started to read the loaded Email.

**Email 1 of 4**

**Sender: G&K HQ**

**Subject: Welcome to your first post**

Avaro rolled his eyes and deleted, before waiting for the next email to load. While that happened, he decided to read the instructions and other papers he tossed onto his desk.

_Knock, Knock_

"Enter" he stated without looking up from the paper he was semi-interested (mainly because it was instruction on what to do with the drone).

"Beef stew, Spaghetti or some sort of tuna?" VM asked as she held up three packets that, just looking at, made Avaro cringe.

"Beef stew" he stated as he heard a small thunk on his desk. Looking away from his paper, he could see a crude tin holding a cake of some kind and standing ahead of it was Galil. "Thanks" he grunted out before looking at his laptop.

**Email 1 or 3**

**Sender: G&K HQ**

**Subject: Supplies**

_We are aware of the state of your commanding base and are mobilizing a few logistical personal to get you supplies, building materials, and a few construction drones. Kindly allow the drone to scan the base and send the data within 48 hours, so we may know the quantity and types of supplies to send you._

"Nice to know they'd think I won't read the instructions" he commented as a plastic fork was placed on his desk "Thanks" he said as he slid the cake closer to himself before sticking the fork into as he loaded up another email. Taking a bit of the cake into his mouth he took note of how soft and fluffy it was "Pretty good" he commented with his mouth still full of cake

Galil smiled on the outside, but on the inside she thought "_PRETTY GOOD_!?" But she let go of that thought soon enough and that was the end of it.

**Email 2 of 3**

**Sender: G&K HQ**

**Subject: Monthly objectives**

**Due to the current state of your base, objectives will be rather limited.**

**Objective 1: Bring your base to the bare minimum of acceptable living conditions. The bare minimum is a ****Sanitary** **place to eat, sleep, and take care of hygienic needs. Anything else is up to you, and the moral of your dolls should be taken into consideration**

**Objective 2: repair local towers**

**Communication is vital, and due to constant attacks on the sector, most of the tower's in the sector have fallen in disarray, making communication difficult at best. On your end, that means support will be limited, and scouting for us will be near impossible. We'll send over the resources, instructions and the coordinates of the towers.**

Avaro just sighs losing his appetite and opened up the last email. He tapped his fingers and cheered up a little seeing the sender was from Briggs.

**Email 3 of 3**

**Sender: Commander Briggs**

**Subject: Checking up.**

**Still kicking? I hope you are, and that that pilot didn't get you killed. I hear the base you got assigned to is utter shi,t and rumor has they were about to mark it a lost cause, but changed last minute when your batch of commanders were brought in.**

**Wonder who's cereal you pissed in to get assigned there. Anyways, I'll be paying a visit when I get a chance and see how the whole place is looking. Don't die to early.**

**-Briggs**

"Galil, quick question"

"Yes?"

"How long have you two been here, and how do you bath? Where did you sleep, and even though I can guess, what did you eat?" Avaro questioned as he leaned back in his chair.

"Hmmm… well, we wash in a tub, we slept on the floor of this trailer, and we've eaten MREs with canned fruit for the past two weeks" Galil happily replied

"I wouldn't call soaking in semi-boiling water bathing..." MB grumbled as she felt what Avaro would rightly assume was her rather greasy hair.

"Well we have hygienic items so go bathe… properly" Avaro commanded as he looked at the progress of the drone update

VM and Galil looked at each other for a moment, before Avaro chimed in, noting that they haven't moved "That's an order you two"

Now since it was an order, they gathered some supplies and left the office, making sure they closed the door. Out of sight, Avaro gave himself a whiff and recoiled in disgust.

"I don't think I showered since graduation" He murmured as he waited for the damn thing to update.

Outside, the two started the routine of getting the bath ready. A barrel (oil drum) would be basically sat between a fire and left alone with the water to heat up. Using a bucket, they would then transport the water (using the questionable buckets) to the tub, and usually soak in their for a good half hour. This time however, they could actually bathe.

"Do you think the commander noticed us smelling bad?" Galil asked VM as they opened the value, letting the cold liquid flow freely into their buckets.

"I don't think he noticed our Bo since his is stronger" She commented, earning a light smack to the back of her head.

"Shush! what if he heard us?" Galil whispered while looking around

"I don't think he can hear us from inside the trailer" VM retorted as she changed the bucket, spilling some cold water onto Galil.

She grumbled and muttered something about not wanting to be decommissioned like other dolls, usually to get cores, or fed to other dolls in order to improve them. VM rolled her eyes as she switched to the third bucket, and the two sat in silence as the water poured in.

"The commander does realize smoking any type of substance is bad for his health, right?" VM asked not liking the silence.

"I think he does, but he must be stressed" Galil figured, and for VM, that was good enough. Besides, who wouldn't be stressed? Getting stuck with two common dolls and a base that looked ready to collapse at a moments notice? They weren't sure what he used to before becoming their commander. Maybe he was the son of a wealthy man, but in their experience (mainly Galil's), they would raise hell if they even got a look at them, and would rather go rogue than be at this base. That marked that out of the question, so maybe he was a soldier of some kind, but he lacked the discipline of one. He was a little too carefree, but lower ranking soldiers tended to be like that, so the possibility wasn't completely out of the picture.

"What do you think he used to do?" Galil asked as that questioned was on her mind and needed to discussed with someone. Not that it really mattered (okay maybe just a little), but a lot of commanders tended to give out that kind of information right off the bat. Something about building a better bond with their dolls and those under them, plus their attitudes usually gave it away.

"No idea, but maybe it has something to do with whatever was in that envelope and that Briggs person" VM commented as she shut off the water and picked up two buckets, before starting to walk followed by Galil holding the third bucket.

"Think we should ask him about it?"

"Maybe, but we should wait once this place is actually running"

Time passed, and the two, while significantly cleaner, still had dirty clothing, but at least their hair was no longer greasy! The two went back to Avaro, who was busy typing away as the small drone flew out of the office.

"Commander, what's the drone doing?" Vm questioned as Avaro looked up from his laptop

"Surveying the base and such" he replied as a small light could be seen out from his window

"Avaro?"

"Yes Galil?" He grunted as he typed up something and once again the drone let out another light

"You smell" she bluntly stated and this time she received a smack on the back of her head from VM.

Avaro stopped for a moment, sniffed himself and shrugged "Seems I do, what's your point?" He retorted with the same bluntness she gave him.

"Would you like to bathe? We can heat up more water for you, and there is still plenty of items for your use" VM stated as Avaro still typed, just what the hell was so important.

"Commander?"

"Hmm?" and then again there was that light from the drone.

"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you doing?" Galil questioned as the light started to get annoying to her and VM.

"Talking with Ms four eyes up in HQ about resources and getting more backup in here" he responded as the light flashed….again.

"Commander?"

"VM"

"Are you going to bathe?"

"Well, will it make you happy if I do?" he asked while using his feet to take off his dress shoes, which had lost their shine hours ago.

"Very much, and it woul-" she was cut off as Avaro held up his hand.

"Alright, I'll bathe, tell Ms. Four eyes here that you're the one talking and that the drone will SLOWLY, transmit the data of the base" Avaro stated as he stood up from his chair leaving his coat in his chair and his beret on the desk. Taking cleaning relaxed clothing (that's really all he had) with some basic hygienic items, he walked out of the office leaving the two dolls baffled.

"Well you heard the commander..." VM said as Galil slowly sat down in his chair.

"What do I say?' She asked unsure what to do

"Well he did say to state he was bathing and you're the one talking" VM stated with a shrug.

And this is how an awkward conversation between the two dolls and Ms. Helian occurred that would haunt our new commander.

As that happened, Avaro sat in cold water that now was dirtied by whatever filth he had on his body. He relaxed a little as his feet hanged out of the tub, he relaxed a little too much as his mind started to wonder, thinking about thing he hadn't thought for a while.

'_Wonder what happened to the others, last I heard Frankie got chosen to be stationed in some rich sector next to… Oscar… thinking about that rich brat makes my blood boil…. so much for a relaxing bath'_

He chuckled a little, wishing he brought his cheap cigarettes with him. He sighs and once again his mind wandered to something else.

'_Those coats are nice and all, but the fact we have to look formal bugs me to high hell. Like who the fuck do we have to impress? 99 percent of our time is with dolls, .5 with higher up and the other .5 is when shit goes to hell and we're getting shot at'_

Of course, he knew that he would (eventually) have to spend times with those that had their heads up their asses. Rich pricks who wanted to pocket some greedy or blind commander, someone they could have to protect them or their assets, even though someone else signed their main paychecks and the whole reason they had their small army.

'_Then again I nearly fell for it, so I can't be that hard on those who did' _His thought went on as he picked up some body wash from some company he never heard of. He started to scrub himself with his hands as the memory played.

'_Briggs had a fucking field day with me….I wonder how he knew I was scheduled to be at that party… then again it's Briggs, best fucking mentor I could ask for. To think I would nearly fall for the sales pitch and that some pampered prick thought he could out scream Briggs'_

Chuckling louder than he thought, he quieted himself and poured some cold dirty soap bubbly water onto himself.

'_Then Jade, his oathed doll, pulled my ear, right in front of my peers and made Briggs seem like chihuahua. I think they're the reason those people avoided me like I had the infection...I do hope they're alright.'_

He sighs and submerged his head under the water for a bit before poking it back up. He chuckled a little again recalling another memory as he picked up off brand shampoo.

'_Jade… she may have been a common doll, but my god I wouldn't on the receiving end of her anger… oh wait I was a filthy little shit who refused to bathe and she would have to stand guard outside of the bathroom otherwise I wouldn't… man I was a troubled child'_

He shook his head and made sure the shampoo really got into his hair.

'_If she saw me now, she would fucking kill me for being filthy… good times thinking about it now, right, I've been here for long enough'_

He stood up, causing water to spill out and since he had no towel, it made his clothing a little wet. He didn't mind though. Being in sweat pants and a T-shirt was lot better than being in some button up shirt and dress pants. After he was all dressed and cleaned up his little mess, he went back to his office. On his way back, the drone was now taking pictures of the hangar and some of the outer places of the area. He shrugged as he guessed it was nearly done doing its thing, and soon enough the data would start uploading to whoever's job it was to look at it.

Walking into his office, he noticed Galil trying to hide behind VM who in turn was trying not to look him in the eye. He shrugged not really thinking much about it and sat back down in his chair, then nearly had a heart attack.

**H: I'll make sure your mentor Commander Briggs is aware of your little nickname for me.**

Avaro frowned a little confused, and proceeded to type a response

**A: Excuse me Ma'am?**

**H: Four eyes, I'll make sure Briggs knows he still hasn't drilled you not to come up with such childish things.**

**A: Understood, have a good day.**

Closing his laptop and letting out a deep sigh he tapped his fingers against the table. On the outside he looked fine and cool as ice, but on the inside, he had three words repeating over and over again.

_**Fucking end me.**_


	2. Projects and personnel

**A Week Later**

The week following his arrival at the base, Avaro found most of the time he had was spent signing forms and approving company logistics units to assist in repairing the base. Their work load included taking apart wrecked vehicles, demolishing unusable buildings, setting up an actual plumbing system, and so forth.

For once, he actually got a good look at the base and was a little surprised to see it wasn't all that big, no bigger than an outpost. If he had to guess (and going off the images), the base was in the process of expanding before something, whatever it was, came along and wiped out the previous occupants.

Presently, he had two usable buildings: a garage that housed a somehow still intact Jeep, and a shack that housed the base's damaged water system. The other four buildings, his office trailer included, were deemed unstable and, thus, were marked for demolition. So, time went by with constant movement and the hammering of construction equipment. Among all this, Avaro sat in a chair, waiting, bored out of his mind. Eventually, the materials for tower repairs came in, and he was _glad. _Now had something to do other than sit around with his dick in his hand.

Which brings us to the hangar, where Galil and VM argued over who should accompany the Commander and who should sit on base to guard the construction crews. While they had their own guards, the remaining doll would serve as an overseer, to make sure the crews didn't cut corners. Avaro could have tasked one or both for the job, so he could stay back at the base, but he didn't want to sit around doing nothing. Plus, they really couldn't stop him, as he essentially could order them to fuck off and let him do what he will.

This debate dragged on. Avaro took one deep breath before holding up a hand.

"VM _in_,"he hissed out. "_Galil, _you're staying here. If anyone needs something from me, I believe you have more than enough good judgment. Now, let's get to it, before more time is wasted," he finished, fishing out an herbal cigar from his breast pocket.

From the corner of his eye to his amusement,, he could see VM stick her tongue out at Galil, who pouted before rolling her eyes and returning to her cheerful self. He lightly chuckled as VM turned the key, bringing the Jeep to life. Unfortunately for Avaro, VM didn't really know how to drive, so they ended up speeding out of the garage, almost hitting a doll whose color drained from almost becoming roadkill.

"Sorry…" Vm squeaked, shrinking into the leather driver's seat, small beads of sweat rolling down her synthetic skin.

Avaro held back a laugh, but he had a shit-eating grin plastered on his face as he pat VM on the back. "Maybe _I_ should drive instead of you," he remarked as they switched seats. VM mumbled a few more apologies as Avaro reversed, waving goodbye to the workers who came to check out what all the commotion was about.

\- - - - -

VM held a small tablet with the locations of the towers in need of repair. Honestly, it was just changing a few damaged fuses and possibly taking out any jamming devices placed by hostile forces.

Avaro would have to deal with these hostile forces—not just Sangvis Ferri units, but warlords and many other smaller insurgencies—at some point. However, presently, he was in no shape to take _anything _down. And if any of them got wind of how under-equipped he was, they could launch an attack on him, even though he himself nor anything of the base was worth much. Hell, their time would be better spent just offing him and burning what's left of his base down to the ground, then moving on.

He simply sighs as the Jeep jumped a little, hitting a small bump in the dirt road.

VM's sensors noticed a slight increase in Avaro's heart rate. Was it the bump in the road? The current state of the base? Or maybe it was other things she wasn't aware of. As the Commander, he must have a lot of things on his mind, and she couldn't tell what's on his mind unless she asked or he said it outright.

"The tower should be ahead." The device emitted small pings, slowly getting louder and louder until they reached a large metal tower.

"Fuck…" Avaro croaked, seeing how high the tower went up. He sighed and picked up a small satchel from the back seat. He opened it up, revealing fuses, circuit boards, some sort of blocky device, wires, and a note.

_**To whoever is repairing the towers.**_

_**Replacing the fuses is as easy as it comes: we color the sides, red for the left and green for the right.**_

_**The circuit boards are a little more tricky, as the wires will be a little messed up. Simply trace the wires from each side and connect accordingly.**_

_**Once you're sure it's all fine, connect the signal tester to the panel and test the signal. All four lights **_**should **_**turn a bright green; if not, check the panel for anything out of the ordinary.**_

_**Red means no signal.**_

_**Yellow-red means something is being used to listen in.**_

_**Green means everything is good to go.**_

_**Sincerely,**_

_**The Engineering Team**_

Avaro crumpled up the note and tossed it into the back as he hopped out.

"VM, guard the Jeep. I'm gonna fix the tower," he stated as he approached a rusted ladder, satchel thrown over his shoulder.

"Commander, shouldn't _I_ be the one doing that?" Avaro was already climbing up the questionable ladder. "You could fall off and get severely injured!"

"You're the one with a _rifle—!_" One of the rungs gave out, making him cling to the ladder.

"Commander!" Her mechanical heart nearly gave out.

"I'm _fine_!" He continued his journey up.

**Approximately 1,200 feet away (366 meters)**

"I thought the commander was killed and his base bombed to hell." The man with a thick accent adjusted his binoculars.

"So did I."

"HQ," the binoculars man spoke into a radio.

"_Go ahead, Hunter 0-1_," a man with a similar accent answered, uninterested, shouting heard in the background.

"I thought the commander from Sector 7 was already killed." Hunter 0-1 positioned his rifle, aiming towards the left eye.

"_The commander from Sector 7 was confirmed terminated. Why the sudden interest?"_

The other observer interjected: "HQ, I call _bullshit!_ We can clearly see a red griffon commander uniform on this guy, and he's climbing up the tower we jammed."

"_Noted. Hunter 0-2, hang on a minute."_

Another radio came to life. "_Hunter Team, that commander _was _killed—Bravo Team even filmed it. My guess is another one was stationed here. Pull back for now. We'll send some scouts to the area."_

"Hunter Team copies. Heading to closest extract." Hunter 0-1 killed the radio.

"We're just letting them escape? Just like that!?" Hunter 0-2 protested.

"You heard HQ. We'll just watch for now," Hunter 0-1 dully stated as the duo moved away.

**Hangar 13**

**Sector 1**

**City**

"_Warrant Officer Kuznetsov, report to the commander's station. I repeat: Warrant Officer Kuznetsov, report to the commander's station,"_ a doll called over the PA system.

Icyln, for her part, was a little confused as to why the hell she was being called to his desk. Usually, if an echelon of dolls was being deployed, she would receive the orders from her helicopter's computer, and summarily go from there. Being directly called gave her a bad feeling.

Sighing, she stepped out of her American made Blackhawk and casually tied up her hair in a folded ponytail as she started walking out of the hangars. She walked by a few dolls and waved a quick hello to them before going on her way. As she approached the door, her bad feeling only worsened. She stared at the door, marked as "Commander Tony", and knocked three times. A voice on the inside acknowledged her presence, allowing her entry.

The office was neatly organized. Bookshelves with books in all sorts of languages. Walls with maps detailing his sector, who was deployed where and for how long. You could be in his office all day and barely digest a quarter of all the information there.

The commander stood behind a desk, overlooking a holo-map of their current sector. Alongside him stood his adjutant, one of those elite WA2000 dolls that are popular for some reason. The two greeted Iclyn, WA with a disdainful frown, and Tony with his calm, yet smug attitude.

The warrant officer folded her arms and stared at the two, wondering why in god's name the asshole had called her to his office. Knowing him, it was nothing good. The two have had some bad blood since their first meeting, mostly due to their different nationalities. It was petty, sure, but honestly, people are still bitter about WW3.

Tony set down the files he had been holding and picked up another folder. He then strode over to the other side of the table, with WA watching the two like a hawk.

"Greetings, Kuznetsov. I won't give you the typical bureaucratic bullshit, considering you _Islanders _are all the same. It'll probably fly over your head anyway." He adjusted his glasses and smirked at the pilot, who glared at him. He then handed her the folder.

Iclyn accepted the folder and gave it a once-over. She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"This is…?"

"Your reassignment orders."

Iclyn opened the folder and quickly read through the contents. As he said, she was being reassigned, and to some backwoods outpost no less!

"I _would_ say it'll be a shame to see you go, but a commander shouldn't be the lying type, right? If I were you, I would get your things packed up. _Before _we declare them junk and have them burnt." He smirked at the look of shock that settled on her face, with WA silently giggling to herself in the background.

_I don't understand. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm one of the best pilots G&K has under their employ!_

_...Wait._

She looked up.

"_You_ had something to do with this… didn't you…"

Her tone was cold, the frustration and anger she held at that moment very apparent to anyone in the room, much to the amusement of the commander.

"I have no idea what you are referring to, Ms Kuznetsov. Guess HQ just believes you're not qualified for this post. Then again… Considering you were raised on a backwards rock by deadbeat parents who were probably too drunk off their asses to raise a kid _properly_, I can understand _why _you wouldn't exactly be qualifi—"

Now, Iclyn is somewhat rational, but the moment he brought up her parents, a vein in her head simply popped, and all she could see was red. Tony took a moment to look back to WA, who shared his jerkass grin, only for her to shout a warning to him. He turned quickly, only to see a fist flying toward him.

Blood splattered all over the holo table, and Tony fell to the ground, clutching his nose in pain. Iclyn tried to continue the beatdown, only for WA to restrain her, screaming for security.

Almost immediately, a G36 assault rifle doll and a Super Shorty shotgun doll barged into the room. They saw WA, desperately trying to keep the mixed blood pilot from beating the commander to death, and reacted accordingly. G36 ran to WA's aid in pulling Iclyn away from the commander, with the Super Shorty taking over for the rifle doll. WA, now free, ran over to check on the commander.

Tony groaned in pain as he rubbed his shattered nose, blood dripping from it and his mouth. "_GET THIS PSYCHOTIC CUNT OUT OF MY OFFICE!" he barked at the two dolls._

\- - - - -

Galil sat in a chair on the second floor of Commander Jackson's "base." She tapped her foot, played with her hair—_anything _to take away from the fact she was stuck here. The first wave of workers did their job and left after fixing the pipes, wiring, and numerous other things—dropping off cots and setting up crude showers, a kitchen, and so forth.

Thankfully, they'd set up was single washing machine; she could _finally _wash her smelly uniform.

'_Course we still have to eat questionable dried or canned foods, but you can't have _all _of life's luxuries._

On the brink of zoning out again, she heard a ringing coming from the commander's laptop. She waited a moment before hearing it again, confirming she wasn't going stir crazy. She quickly hopped up from her chair and went off to find his laptop.

As expected, it was out in the open in his office corner, continuously beeping. Under normal circumstances, she would fetch the Commander, but he was out.

…_Should I answer it?_

She peered at the screen. The caller ID read "Unknown."

_Probably not._

But there were only two ways to get his connection number: he either gave it to someone, or a higher-up wanted to contact him.

_I don't know when the commander will be back. What if it's important…_

He trusted her judgment.

She clicked "Answer" and was met with an attractive woman with light blue hair staring back at her with yellow eyes.

The unknown woman blinked twice.

"_Apologies. I may have the wrong connection number,"_ she softly spoke. She checked something on her desk then looked back at Galil. "_This _is _the laptop of Commander Avaro Jackson, correct?"_

"The Commander is out repairing the reception towers. I can take a message for you if need be," Galil stated, clicking a pen and hurriedly searching for paper.

"_Hmm… Do you have any estimated time of return for Commander Jackson?"_

Just as Galil was about to repeat herself, she heard the sound of the Jeep approaching. However, once the commander was within sight, her sensors registered his increased heart rate.

"Galil, get the suture kit!" VM called out as the Jeep stopped before the garage.

"I'm _fine_. It's just a small cut," Avaro insisted, his white shirt dotted with blood and his jacket covering his left arm.

"He's here…" Galil weakly stated.

"_What's going on?"_

VM jumped out of the driver's seat, ran into the storage corner, and dug through a crate labeled "Medical Supplies."

Avaro carefully got out of the Jeep. "Shit!" he hissed after accidentally placing pressure on his left arm.

"_T-doll Gallil, what is going on?"_

"Galil, who's that?"

"_Is that Commander Jackson?"_

"Last I checked, I haven't changed my last name, so I guess," Avaro remarked sarcastically as he plopped onto his chair. He carefully eyed the woman on the screen. "And who the fuck are you?"

"_I see they weren't kidding about your rather… colorful vocabulary, or rather your _lack _of one."_ She carefully stacked a pile of papers.

"Oh, great. You're someone with their head up their ass who can't relax for two seconds. You still haven't answered my question: Who. The. Fuck. Are. You?" he enunciated as he dug out an herbal cigar from his desk.

"Galil, be a dear and give me a light." He motioned toward a small box of matches on his desk.

"_Mr. Jackson, I would advise against smoking. Regardless of whether or not it contains nicotine, smoking any substance will prove harmful to your lungs,"_ she stated as Galil struck a match and held it under his cigar.

"I don't feel like repeating myself. Kindly tell me who you are, or I'll kill the damn connection—Aah, _shit_! VM! _Why!?_" he hissed as she took the coat off his arm and applied a disinfectant.

Galil winced a little upon seeing the deep cut on his arm while the still unnamed woman raised a brow.

"_If you must know, I am Amelia Andrew. Might I ask why you have such a deep cut so early into your deployment? Aren't dolls supposed to protect you?"_

Avaro shrugged and hissed again as his wound was cleaned thoroughly. "Not a fan of desk work. Now, whatch—_MOTHERFUCKER!_" He grimaced as the needle and thread pierced his skin.

Amelia looked to his side, watching as VM closed his wound while Galil held down his other arm.

"Pardon my outburst, but what do you want? I don't think this is a simple social call." Avaro punctuated the statement with another hiss.

"_You would be correct, Commander Jackson. As of this afternoon, I am your new logistics officer. Due to certain circumstances, you shall be receiving new personnel to assist you. Expect our arrival within a few days. Paperwork must be processed and travel time must be accounted for."_

As she finished, a third line connected, to Avaro's amusement and Amelia's annoyance.

"_Hey, Amelia, so that pilot that's supposed to be traveling with you is gonna be delayed a few hours. She did something stupid, and a few things need to be sorted out," _a man's voice stated, failing to notice Avaro.

"Mr. Maxis_, could you not have simply _emailed _this to me?"_

"_I _could_, bu—"_

"_Furthermore, you have interrupted a call between myself and the commander. Could you not have checked the connection before joining the call?"_

"…_C-come again!?"_

The two made eye contact and, in a fit of boredom, Avaro shot him a wink, causing Maxis to kill his connection, either due to embarrassment or the thought of Avaro chewing him out.

"Soo… that was thing. What was that about the pilot doing something stupid?"

Amelia put on a pair of reading glasses then turned her chair to another screen. She clicked a few icons and read something that was recently sent to her.

"_It would seem Ms. Kuznetsov has assaulted her former commander. There will be a slight delay, as the base commander there has refused her transport to the next city." _She removed her glasses. "_Arrangements have been made, but I'm afraid we'll all be delayed."_

Avaro just shrugged. "Noted. Well, I have nothing going on, so I'll be…Well, I'll find something to do," Avaro stated as the dolls finished dressing and wrapping his wound.

"_I look forward to meeting you in person,"_ Amelia stated before hanging up.

Avaro closed his laptop and looked at Galil and VM, who stood at his side.

"I'm open to suggestions on how to kill time."

Galil and VM looked at each other then back at him.

"You," they began in unison, causing Avaro to shrink in his seat, "are _resting!_"

**Two Weeks Later**

**Monday, 12:00AM**

While waiting for the new personnel, five buildings and a makeshift landing pad, fit for a single helicopter, had been constructed.

Avaro, for the most part, was glad to have a proper office. And to not have to worry about a metal cot frame giving him tetanus.

The base wasn't nearly as glorious as most bases could be, but at least it wasn't the complete shit hole it was when he first arrived. He had his own room and a clean office, and he could take a hot shower. 'Course the showers were communal, and they only had a field kitchen with limited ingredients (mainly dried or canned at that), but for the most part, they had a comfortable life.

So, what the hell were they doing awake at 12:00AM?

Greeting the new arrivals, of course!

As the helicopter drew closer to the ground, some of the freshly fallen snow kicked up into the air. The blades slowed as the chopper kissed the ground while the pilot and side doors opened up.

The trio walked forward as Avaro proudly exclaimed, "Welcome to my little section of Hell!"

The pale as snow Icyln raised a brow. "You don't dress like most Commanders do," she called while Amelia and three other dolls unloaded luggage. Then again, it is the middle of the night; he must have been sleeping. It would have made sense if they hadn't been waiting for them for who knows how long.

"Coat's pretty bloody, and, in all honesty, it's fucking uncomfortable. I'd rather dress like this." He motioned toward his attire: tactical pants, jacket, and boots. The one noteworthy thing was the slightly worn name tag "Jackson."

"Served or something?"

"Briggs made a point of showing me the ugly side of people," he nonchalantly stated.

"Commander Jackson, it's a pleasure to see you again," Amelia greeted as she stood against Icyln who flinched slightly.

"Amelia," he acknowledged the woman. "And who might you three be?"

Behind Amelia stood three T-dolls holding luggage bags, their weapons slung across them, except one whose weapon hung off her, likely a light machine gun.

The first to speak up was a middle doll who looked to have their blonde bangs in a braid, but Avaro could hardly tell with little light.

"Good evening. Serdyukov SPS reporting. I will be responsible for your safety from now on. I look forward to working with you, Commander Jackson," she stated before bowing.

The next one looked to have silver hair and a blue beret. "Greetings, Commander. I am AR70. I look forward to our time together; I'm sure it will be wonderful." The doll attempted to bow, but, due to the luggage, couldn't.

The last doll, who stood in the back, proudly announced, "Bren light machine gun. I can handle whatever mission you throw at me." Like the others, she did a light bow.

Avaro nods and takes notes before doing a 180. "Right. Let's get out of the snow. I'm sure you'd all like to sleep."

"Ah, shit! We don't have enough beds for you lot…" he mutters. "Eh, we'll figure it out."

**Days Since Arrival:** **21**

**Estimated Base Operational:** **10%**

**Personnel On Base:** **8**

Avaro was one to never shy away from grunt work. Hell, he actually welcomed it; it gave him something to do instead of sitting in his office, staring off into space or looking out of his window. Last night, some supplies were dropped off, primarily fence material, enough to establish a small perimeter around the base.

Could have he told the dolls to do it? Sure. But what else did he have going on? Plus, he wanted something to do that didn't involve making awkward small talk with Icyln or Amelia.

So, yeah, so far this had been his day: dig, set down a post, walk ten feet, set another post, and repeat before setting up the fence itself and attaching the barbed wire. This was his day for the most part, calm and rather quiet, only stopping occasionally to drink a bit of water.

He tossed his shovel in the back of the Jeep with a sigh before taking off his sweat-stained shirt onto the driver's seat, leaving him in an equally sweat-stained tank top.

He looked at his watch. "Only 3pm," her muttered before beginning the short drive back to the garage.

\- - - - -

Avaro waved at Bren as she stood there, overlooking the front of the base, her MG sitting atop an empty crate. She returned the wave with a curt nod before returning her attention to the sea of snow and dead trees.

Upon entering the garage, he was met with Amelia shelving cans of food and boxes of ammunition.

"Afternoon." He stepped out of the vehicle, sweaty shirt in hand.

"Finished installing the fences, Commander?" Amelia set an empty box in an ever-growing pile of cardboard boxes awaiting disposal.

"Yeah. Snow didn't make it any easier, but it killed time." A cold draft made him slightly shiver.

"You should cover up before you catch a cold."

"I will. Anyone in the showers?" he asked before finally realizing he'd left the Jeep door open, then promptly shutting it.

"Should be open, Commander." The rhythmic _thunk thunk _of cans being placed on a shelf resumed.

He nodded, turning toward his office to get a clean change of clothing then take a well-earned shower to wipe off the day's filth.

**The following day, late evening**

While not ideal, with a little ingenuity, it is possible for humans to live in yellow zones.

Why are yellow zones not ideal? Simple: good luck predicting the weather.

Such a simple thing can have such a _huge _impact on people, from activities to choice of clothing. One moment, it's sunny enough. Next thing you know, it's hailing, or you're knee-deep in snow. But, if you don't mind the odd weather, yellow zones are livable enough.

That said, Avaro wasn't exactly used to the sort of thing, but he kept his complaints to himself as he typed up a report for some higher-up to read.

_**Progress of base expansion:**_

…

_**See last report, dipshit.**_

He groaned, quickly deleting his words. He tapped his fingers on his cheap wooden desk as his mind tried to come up with something semi-presentable.

"I fucking hate reports…."

It was due in a few short hours; otherwise, _someone _will throw a hissy fit and chew him out for not turning in a report on time.

A small knock interrupted his thoughts.

"Come in."

Serdyukov SPS entered his office holding a tray.

Much to Avaro's annoyance, SPS attire is reminiscent of a flight attendant. He understood they needed to blend in with other people, but, to his knowledge, there were no other people aside from Icyln, Amelia and him, so who gave a flying fuck? He got them into clothing more suited to the environment: pants, slightly thicker shirts, and thick jackets or coats for the stupid amount of snow.

"I brought you a little something, Commander." SPS gently placed the tray on his desk.

Avaro picked up a mug filled with, if the scent was anything to go off, tea. He blew on it for a bit before taking a small sip. He soon set it down to turn his attention back to his laptop and the empty section of his report.

He quickly tapped his fingers on his desk.

…

SPS was still standing there, likely waiting for him to eat.

"…Fuck it."

**To whom it may concern,**

**Kindly refer to Report #2, Section 5. Nothing worth noting has occurred apart from fence installation.**

**If you wish for this section to be larger, I implore you to send the requested building materials and more personnel. This would speed up the expansion of this base.**

With that, he clicked "Send" and looked back at a small bowl on the tray.

Rice mixed with powdered eggs and some sort of canned tuna. Nothing special, but it was changed up enough for his brain to be tricked to think it was something completely different.

Was it ideal? No, but it was filling and had enough seasoning. 'Course, seasoning was limited to ketchup or hot sauce. Sometimes, he would mix the two for the illusion of something different. He would _kill _for some pepper at this point.

He took a few spoonfuls before sighing and looking back to his laptop. He clicked on another set of documents, information on the dolls and Amelia and Icyln.

For the dolls, it was making sure the serial numbers matched up. For the other two, it was making sure the IDs matched up and confirming that other smaller specks of information were up to date. It was a lot of reading, meaning they would come in and out of his office all day to make sure nothing was amiss.

He clicked on a third tab, documents detailing what was coming in and out of the base. Presently, it was mainly what was coming _in _and if it arrived on time. 'Course he had to sign off on them, then hope to whatever god they arrived here in one piece or be chewed out for not providing enough security despite the lack of manpower.

He glanced at what was supposed to come by and that the previous convoy got back to their checkpoint. He groaned a little as his email popped up, making him open a fourth tab. Two emails awaited him.

**Email 1 of 2**

**Subject: Proper report conduct**

Not bothering to read it or look at the sender's name, the email was quickly sent to the garbage bin.

**Email 2 of 2**

**Subject: Monthly objectives / Re: Requests**

**From: Ms. Helina (Four Eyes)**

Avaro chuckled at his contact name for her before opening the email.

**Good evening, Commander Jackson.**

**I believe you've settled into your new position. With the recent success of re-establishing communication, your region has been deemed stable enough to conduct search and rescue operations.**

**As I'm sure you're aware, this was not the only base to be destroyed in your region.**

_Excuse me, _what_!?_ His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

**For this, dolls have been left behind. We would like you to search the ruins of the base and towns and recover them. Alternatively, you may add them to bolster your numbers. Regardless, document them, so we may know the appropriate number of dolls to build for the next month.**

O_h joy, _more _paperwork. Lucky me._

**Regarding the request for materials and palatable food items, this is not possible with no known safe areas. Your region is heavily infested with raiders; convoys have been known to get ambushed and, in some cases, obliterated.**

_Who the fuck was in charge of telling me all this shit? _I _didn't even know we had a raider problem until now!_

**Which leads me to the next objective:**

**In an attempt to deal with overcrowding, the local government has formed a frontier program. In light of our attempts to stabilize the region again, we've been contracted to provide security for the new towns. By this time, they will have set up, and your map should be updated to their location.**

**Mingle and establish a friendly relationship with them while tending to any problems they may have. Establishing towns will allow us to send bigger convoys, thus helping the expansion of your base.**

**Utility companies have invested materials to set up proper utility plants. If this falls, the towns will suffer. Thus, you shall protect them at all costs. Helping these companies lessens the burden of providing your own utilities.**

**Before your time being stationed here, some other towns were established here. Despite the towers being operational again, the towns haven't been responding to their calls. The government wishes to know their statuses; they fear they've been raided or their equipment has failed.**

**If any survivors are found, relocate them to the new towns and be sure to properly document their status.**

**Lastly, deal with the raiders. With our lack of presence, some small-scale warlords have made their move. Eliminate them and snuff out their leadership; the government would rather they not undermine their power.**

**\- Helina**

Avaro leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming from all the paperwork and field work he had ahead of him.

"SPS."

"Yes, Commander?"

"Wake me up at 6 AM and have everyone in my office by 7 for a meeting." He powered off his laptop before standing up.

"It's 1 AM, Commander. Are you sure you will get sufficient sleep?" She quickly picked up the tray with his barely touched food.

"No, but we have a lot of work ahead."

"Very well. Anything else?"

"Oh, please be a dear and have a mug of tea on my desk." He held the door open for her.

"Of course," SPS said with a smile as the duo walked towards the field kitchen. "Shouldn't you be heading toward your room?"

"I should, but you took time out of your rest to make me something; the least I can do is keep you company as we clean up," he stated as he fished out an herbal cigarette from his pocket.

SPS chuckled as she threw away the food, poured the now cold tea onto the snow, and placed the dishes in the sink. But, she couldn't just leave them there and started to wash them. Meanwhile, Avaro leaned against the counter and looked at his phone as more emails of company heads trying to buddy up with him piled up, much to his annoyance.

SPS shook her head, seeing work never seemed to end for him.

"Commander, it's not good for your health to work so much," she stated as she shut off the hanging light.

"Work never ends, it seems, no matter how much I do." He held the tent flap open for her, letting in the cold draft.

"Please make sure to get some rest."

"I can only hope."

They split paths to go to their respective resting areas, Avaro to his small cube room and SPS to the portable barracks with the others.

When Avaro lay down, he expected to pass the fuck out at the drop of a hat. Instead, he found himself tossing, turning, sitting up, and, at one point, being upside down before deciding sleep was overrated.

He dug through his closet and put on clothing more comfortable than the Commander garb that he was tempted to toss into a fire pit, say was lost, and be done with it. But, no. If he did that, he would never hear the end of it. Instead, he shoved it into the deepest part of his small closest and would forget about it until it would bite him in the ass one day. Until that day, however, he would dress how he felt, which tended to be military clothing or something that would cause a civilian to raise a brow at him.

But because this was the middle of a yellow zone, and the closet civilian was miles away, who gave a shit.

He donned a dark blue, long-sleeve shirt made with material suited for the yellow zone's weather and his favorite weathered tan military jacket. The jacket had holes in the side and a faded name tag and shoulder insignia. Did it have a story to tell? Probably. But for the time being, that would remain between Avaro and the jacket.

Combat pants were far more comfortable than the dress pants that would dig into his groin—And don't even get him _started _on the damned dress shoes! They were the right size, but felt like they were digging into his feet.

He slowly made his way out of his room and toward his office. A small walk later and he plopped down in his chair again. He stared at his laptop, going over maps of the area and answering emails for meetings and offers in exchange for his extra protection.

He had pressing matters, so he had to decide what to prioritize. Looking over data involving the supplies of the frontier program. As he expected, they had _some _protection, but no personnel to operate it.

Time ticked away and Avaro could feel his eyelids growing heavy as he read, typed, read, and sorted information as he prepared for a briefing. Last thing he could recall was him closing a tab and looking at the ceiling before everything went black.

Lack of sleep eventually caught up with him and his body said, "Fuck you. Sleep is great!" He was forced to nap on his desk and would wake to neck pains for the next few hours.

**Author's note: I would like to thank my editor who functions as the one who shifts through my shit and sorts it out as well as providing some of details here.**


	3. Bolstering numbers

**Day 22, 5:30 AM**

SPS roused from her sleep, it was nearly time to wake the commander from his sleep. It would take a moment to ready herself for the day, then prepare his tea as he'd requested. She took a quick moment to make her bunk before going to her designated storage bin. Nothing worth noting was inside, only her new "uniform" and the SR-1 Vektor (Serdyukov SPS) in its holster. Satisfied on her appearance (but without a mirror, she really had no idea), she tiptoed out of the barracks, making as little noise as possible, not wanting to disturb the others. She quickly closed the door behind her to avoid letting in the frigid air. SPS made her way across the snow to the field kitchen to prepare the commander's request.

Humming to herself, she set a small pot of water to boil while she grabbed a mug, a plastic stirring spoon, and a few packets of sugar and placed them on a small tray. After waiting a few minutes for the water to come to a boil, she carefully poured the water into the mug before placing in the green tea bag. (He didn't specify a flavor, but, despite only taking a few small sips, he didn't seem to mind the selection she'd made the last time.)

She looked at the digital clock hanging on the wall. It read 5:55. She had just enough time to set the tea then wake the commander. She smiled gently and walked toward his office cube.

She switched on the light, then carefully set the tray down on his desk near his laptop…that was on.

_Strange. Didn't he turn that off?_

_I guess not. I'll just close it for him._

She looked around his office and, while not empty, it certainly was lacking. The only thing worth noting was a large paper map with fresh marker marks on the wall, a crude key at its side. This was a large sector, but they had little manpower to patrol, much less _defend_, this base.

…_How is the commander going to deal with this?_

_Then again, he thinks a few steps ahead and plans for things unseen or things we lack; that's why he's the commander._

She had lingered longer than intended, so she made haste and stepped out of Commander Jackson's office and headed to his room, the time to wake him quickly approaching.

Outside his room, SPS quickly and somewhat loudly knocked on his door.

No answer.

She waited a bit before trying again.

Silence.

She waited a beat before trying a third time to find more silence, so she reached for the doorknob and opened the door.

"Commander?" she called into the dark room. Nothing. She flicked on the light. His bed was empty and unmade.

_Where could he have gone?!_

Panic quickly set in. She speed-walked around the base, looking everywhere she could before she could assume the worst and sound the alarm.

**\- - - - -**

The personnel and dolls started to rise, dress, and check the makeshift duty schedule posted on the wall to the left of the door.

"'Meeting'?" Icyln questioned. "A 7 AM meeting wasn't on there before I went to sleep."

"Oh my. Things are starting to get a little lively around here," Amelia comments, reading the new announcement.

"Not expecting much really. Must be a new work schedule or something." Icyln slipped on her jacket, seeing fresh snow falling.

Amelia slipped into her snow white coat. "I guess we'll see in an hour."

Other dolls huddled around and read the announcement then looked over their daily tasks, which hadn't changed since their arrival: patrol, sort, cook the day's meals.

"VM, _please, _go easy on the salt if you're making eggs again…" Galil requested.

"Maybe _you _should go easy on the ketchup," joked AR70. Galil puffed up her cheeks.

Bren rolled her eyes then looked around. "Where's SPS?"

"If her empty storage unit—" Icyln nodded toward the aforementioned storage unit "—is anything to go by, I think she's up and around."

"Makes sense." Bren donned her new uniform jacket like everyone else.

With everyone dressed, they all went about their morning: Icyln removed ice from her "new" chopper; Amelia conducted inventory and made a list of supplies to order; Bren mainly stayed near the entrance of the base with her light machine gun, resting on sandbags, ready to go; Galil and AR70 walked a set path where they and Bren crossed paths; SPS—

…Well… Normally, she would be near the commander, handing him paperwork. However, right now, SPS was searching high and low for Avaro, speeding by everyone, causing them to raise a brow. She was notably panicked, but they didn't pry, thinking she was told something she was not at liberty to reveal.

**Around 6:55 AM**

_Dark. Typical commander. Guess their rank lets them get away with things like sleeping in._

Icyln rolled her eyes then flipped on the switch, illuminating the large marked-up map on the wall, and the phone, a large stack of folders, the commander's closed laptop, and a cold mug of tea sitting on the desk in the otherwise barren room.

_Wasn't _he _the one who called for a meeting at 7 AM? _She shook her head. _Some things never change, no matter where you go._

Faint moaning could be heard coming from below the desk.

…_What's that?_

Leaning over the desk, she saw the sleeping body of the commander.

"Commander!" she barked, causing Avaro to shoot up and hit his head on the desk, making him groan. "What, did you fall asleep at your desk and fall over? I really hope you don't have any brain damage. Meeting's gonna start soon."

"…What time is it?" he mumbled, rubbing the top of his head.

"It's 7 AM, sir," she stated, watching as he processed what she'd said before realization dawned on him.

She struggled to stifle a laugh as he jumped off the floor as if it were made of lava, scrambled around his desk, and opened up his laptop, furiously clicking icons to open folders. Icyln caught a glimpse of one folder's contents, noting the amount of smaller maps, charts, and series of numbers.

She pitied him to an extent: most commanders had a small team of dolls and personnel helping them with these things, whittling them down to their most important, then handing it off to them for a final read and, perhaps, approval. SPS did her best to assist him, sifting through data and emails that fell to him, making him read a lot of bullshit, and wasting time reading said bullshit. However, he dealt with the brunt of it, as she was just a downgraded pilot sent to a backwater base that, for all she knew, was a suicide mission.

Whatever thoughts Icyln had would have to wait as the others slowly trickled into the commander's office. SPS walked in, curled up into herself, biting her thumb and scanning lines with her eyes on the floor.

_She looks nervous…_

SPS then spotted the commander and relief washed over her.

_I have several questions, but that's gonna have to wait._

"Okay, we're all here," Avaro began. "If you're not blind, you can see the large map to the left of me. Now, we're gonna have a busy time." He picked up a black folder.

**\- - - - -**

In a neighboring sector lay the remains of many command posts. Broken fences. Crumbling buildings. Craters. Distant echoes of commands and cries for mercy.

"Decayed" carcasses of T-dolls littered the ruins. Many perished in skirmishes, some with their heads caved in, a quick death. Others weren't so fortunate, trails of synthetic blood leading to their final resting place, often under a desk or in a back room. Some survivors couldn't handle the mental strain, opting to kill themselves or bare themselves to the forces of nature, letting it run its course. Bodies lay buried under five feet of snow; some day, if the snow should melt, their final resting ground would need to be disturbed for a proper burial. This left five surviving T-dolls. For them, this was hell on earth: cut off from any higher command and left for dead, clinging to what was left of their artificial life, even if their comrades were no longer with them.

The five surviving T-dolls comprised of a single tier-three rifle doll commanding four tier-two dolls. Anyone could take one look at them and say they were not optimal. But better to be ineffective and _together _than effective and _alone_.

The aforementioned leader was a rifle doll designated SV-98. Unlike other dolls of the same model, she wasn't as chipper, a shell running on instinct and the hope that their commander would return.

Looking back, it seemed like a distant memory. The attack seemed so insignificant. She was even secretly a little happy to have someone shooting at her; just mop them up and write a report.

Oh, how things turned.

**\- - - - -**

Explosions fired off left and right near the checkpoints. The people they had gunned down had small devices strapped to them, all rigged to detonate the minute their owner's heart stopped beating. The dolls who'd been sent to mop up survivors were taken with them in the explosions.

Waves of technicals, some that had carried those fanatics, rammed through the sandbags or created large holes in the defenses. Moving vans refurbished to carry people unloaded loads of infected. Where the infected came from was a mystery, but SV-98 had a few ideas.

_As long as our commander and the field officers are still giving orders, things should be fine._

The order was given to pull back.

Tier four and five dolls were given higher priority to evacuate. Tier two and three dolls were assigned to temporary echelons, told to hold the line as the helicopters left one by one.

A few helicopters were blown out of the sky, taking more dolls' lives. Most managed to escape, but with heavy damage. Some of the more favored tier two and three dolls were evacuated while the rest held the line, only to watch their numbers slowly dwindle.

The commander swore to return to them as soon as he could.

Blood-curdling screams echoed as the infected ripped into the dolls. The air was thick with the sickening stench of sulfur and burning flesh.

Their small victories gained some ground, but lost a few irreplaceable dolls.

Fewer dolls, fewer mouths to share rations with. But eventually their numbers dwindled to the point where all they could do was hide. And hope.

It seemed their attackers simply wanted to drive out the main force. Or maybe more targets had to be dealt with. However, the infected remained, perhaps sensing potential food, or to upgrade themselves with thicker armor or more arms.

Eventually, they left, roaming to who knows where.

SV searched for survivors. Any she found either had grave wounds that led to sickness and a slow death, or they ventured out in small parties to find help, only to never return. If they did return, they mumbled to themselves of horrors before passing.

The search parties scouted small nearby towns. According to search party Bravo, the settlements were pillaged and were now nests for the infected.

SV often contemplated killing the remaining dolls and herself, to end their suffering, but shot down those thoughts, remembering the commander's promise.

Hours turned to days. Days to weeks. Weeks became four months of isolation. Their supplies ran dangerously low until they were unable to meet the recommended T-doll calorie intake.

_Our existence is pretty much…pain…_

**\- - - - -**

To SV's right slept an SMG doll designated PP-2000, the only doll left of her team. She wasn't one for small talk, always to the point, making her seem cold. In truth, she was a caring doll who strived to go above and beyond for those under her command.

She was once pristine. Glowing yellow eyes full of life, now hollow. Soft, golden hair tied into a ponytail tucked under a hat, now greasy and frayed. A uniform that she always made a point to iron whenever she wasn't out on logistics, now full of holes and soiled by dirt and blood.

_She was really torn up about losing her hat. She always fawned over it._

PP hadn't succumbed to her wounds, but felt like she could pass at any minute. Most days, she would weakly limp around their camp, doing her best to patrol around. Her health had deteriorated recently, bed ridden with a fever that would come and go.

SV sighed heavily as she turned her attention to the other SMG doll sleeping below PP-2000, M40.

She had been found nearly torn to shreds, but was saved at the last moment. Her echelon had been wounded, unable to escape a grisly demise. She had served alongside some of those dolls since being stationed. She'd like to believe they got off easy, but being eaten alive wasn't a good fate. Now her comrades sat in the pit of the stomach of a freak of nature, or were ripped apart for parts to further advance their pursuer.

Despite the hell M40 had seen, somehow, she managed to smile and tried to keep everyone else happy, baking small makeshift treats with limited ingredients and sacrificing sleep to watch over PP. Only her lone blue eye gave insight to her feelings.

_Dull. Lifeless. That's just about everyone here._

M40's apron skirt needed a wash. The undershirt sleeves needed a patch job. Her hair ribbons had been torn during the conflict.

_New clothes and a bath would be nice. And a memory wipe…_ SV's eyes glossed over. _Everything we've seen and suffered…_

Light snoring followed by a sudden snort brought SV back to reality. The source of the snoring had lifted her head from the bed and looked around the room, sleepy confusion apparent, before crashing back into sleep.

_Of course. SVT-38._

SVT mostly kept to herself. Second to only to SV, SVT-38 was the best tactician and was suited for this environment (minus the shorts she'd originally worn). A stained white cloak draped over a white jacket with black sleeves, keeping her upper body warm. Her pants _would _keep her lower body warm, were it not for the large hole on the left knee.

_She watches out the window every day… Maybe she's expecting the commander to come back. Or has she accepted her fate?_

_The view _would _make for a decent gravesite…_

Last was a light machine gun doll found alongside SVT-38, LWMMG. Half of the two dolls' squads had left, so they were shoved together as a last ditch effort to secure the hall leading to the helipads. LWMMG helped clear large squads of infected and made sure the last of the Black Hawks left.

Her silver hair, especially her red highlights, and her red jacket stood out against the bleak environment. She wasn't dressed for this environment; her model was suited for warmer climates, or to bolster numbers. She was designed for the front lines, to mow down waves of hostiles, or to be a temporary field officer, relaying orders via headset.

For a tier-two doll, she was certainly very effective, earning praise from her commanders. But not enough to be evacuated. Nowadays, she sits on the roof, waiting for hell to break loose again.

**\- - - - -**

SV-98 sighed.

_Another early morning. Do I sleep or reminisce about happier days?_

A voice crackled through the radio, interrupting SV-98's thoughts, "_There's a chopper approaching the AO…"_

She stood up abruptly, taking a place next to SVT, who was already looking through her scope. "LWMMG, do you see where they're landing?" SV tried to hide her excitement.

_Has the commander finally come back for us? Is this nightmare finally over?_

"_They've landed on top of the administration building. Should be in your field of vision."_

SVT adjusted her rifle without a word from SV.

The chopper hovered over the building as a rope dropped from the side.

SVT raised a brow.

An unknown man fast-roped down, two dolls following suit once he touched down.

"It's not the commander…"

SV's heart sank.

…_But… there must be a reason they're here… Maybe they came for us?_

**Forty Minutes Earlier**

The briefing had concluded. Everyone broke into their groups, ready for the task at hand. Avaro was leading an operation to look for surviving dolls in the ruined bases.

Icyln was surprised. Most commanders didn't like field work, or if they did go into the field often, they had a luxurious tent, not wanting to leave an air conditioned office.

Amelia wasn't sure what to make of it. She was fresh out of school, and this was her first official post. School didn't prepare her for this; professors who helped commanders often warned of perverted commanders or spoiled brats with silver spoons in their mouths. Money talks, and most _good _commanders tend to retire to quiet after a life spent fighting.

The dolls were annoyed. In the field, their commander could be killed by any number of things. Most dolls whose commander dies under their protection tend to be decommissioned or scrapped for parts. They were filled with a mix of worry and a desire to live.

**\- - - - -**

Icyln was on a UH-1Y Venom, a downgrade from the Black Hawk she was accustomed to. She would adapt to this new helicopter and make sure to take care of it. Without a proper hangar, the environment would make that a daily chore.

_Clear the icicles off the blades. Make sure all the moving parts and instruments work properly. The preflight checklist keeps getting longer…_

As everyone else was gearing up, presently, Icyln's only passenger was a Bren doll that was trying to mount her LMG to side of the chopper. Muttering to herself, Icyln stepped outside, making sure all of the ice was gone before climbing back in starting, flipping switches to bring the blades slowly to life. Just in time, as Commander and the other two dolls boarded.

"Coordinates should have been sent to the on board data pad." Avaro took a seat on the edge.

_It's almost like he's done this before._

Icyln checked the pad and gave him a thumbs up as everyone but Avaro strapped into their seats. "Coordinates received. ETA: thirty minutes, if the weather permits," she relayed as they gain altitude, Amelia waving them off.

"Noted. Let's just hope nothing too bad decided to lurk around."

Iclyn simply nodded and focused on the task ahead, which was easier said than done. The whirring of helicopter blades and occasional yawns became white noise, allowing her mind to wander.

_His accent sounds unnatural, like something he picked up. Kinda like those annoying British accents the foreigners who lived there for a while had. Pretty fake; the kind where if you point it out, the person looks confused, and a bit offended._

_He's also comparatively darker than most locals. Though he's a tad paler from being indoors so long. Or maybe it's the long nights. Regardless, that _really _screams "I don't belong here."_

_..._

Iclyn chastised herself. _For all I know, one or both of his parents could be a foreigner._

_Still, he wasn't born in Ukraine, or on this continent. But until I can get more evidence, I'll keep that to myself._

_I hope he isn't from the States._

…_What if he is though? That beaten up jacket; he always keeps the shoulder patch hidden…_

She shook those thoughts away for another time as the data pad let out a ping.

…_What the hell happened here?_

Ahead were the ruins of a base. Their state of decay made Iclyn wince.

"Hover over the commander building!" Avaro pointed ahead, toward what was left of a large brick building. Noticeable chunks were missing from the walls and roof. As instructed, the chopper hovered over as the commander kicked out a thick rope from the side.

"Iclyn, provide air support while we're on the ground."

Avaro was already fast-roping down to the roof before she could question him. "God damn…" she muttered as SPS and Galil followed suit. Bren just shrugged at the whole interaction, but frowned as she realized something.

"…I don't believe…" Bren hesitated to continue, causing Icyln to raise a brow. "I don't believe the commander brought any protection."

Icyln pursed her lips and took a deep breath before proceeding to spew profanities in Finnish as Bren just pinched her nose.

So much for having a sane commander.

**On the Ground**

"Testing 1,2,3… Testing 1,2—"

"_Commander, why the fuck didn't you bring protection?!"_

The helicopter circled around.

"Oh, relax, nothing bad will happen. Besides, I have two dolls with me, so it's fine."

"_Commander, it is not wise to leave the base without a way to protect yourself. Even with T-dolls accompanying you,"_ Amelia chimed in.

"Relax, you two. I've survived worse things."

**\- - - - -**

The sound of boots tapping against the floor and the occasional crunch of snow echoed, only to fall silent as the party stopped before a wide open door leading to darkness. Galil took point. A pungent smell—decay—creeped into Galil's mouth, making her retch and SPS and Avaro grimace.

The trio trekked down several flights of stairs and reached a stopping point.

"Guess this was the command room." Avaro scanned the room from the doorway. Perhaps, at one point, a proud commander sat at the main console, issuing commands as he was relayed echelon status.

He took a few steps into the room, the two dolls following behind closely, noses pinched. Curled up in a pool of dried in a corner of the room were the metallic remains of a doll, some of her limbs missing. At an adjacent wall, near a smashed window, lay another doll, on her stomach, bite marks around her body.

Avaro approached the body to better examine it.

_The bites are slightly bigger than those of a human._

He turned the corpse onto its back. His breath hitched in the back of his throat.

_Claw marks on the chest. Just _what _did this?_

"Scan the room."

Galil and SP did as they were instructed as Avaro crossed to the window, sweeping away some bullet casings on the floor with his foot. Unease lingered in the room. He scanned the grounds and noted the large number of corpses around the yard.

Squinting, he could see a small crater near the gate and some sort of repurposed moving vehicles.

_Adds armor, but the ramps are down. Crude APCs?_

_Makes sense for dealing with insurgents._

_But what about the claw and bite marks? Maybe attack animals?_

_No. Those bite marks sure as hell don't belong to any animals I've seen. Bigger than a wolf or dog, but smaller than a bear._ He clicked his tongue. _So many questions, yet no answers. I don't have time to waste._

Snow started to fall by the barrel.

"_Commander?"_ Amelia called through the radio, snapping Avaro out of his thoughts.

"Yes, Amelia?"

Avaro motioned towards the door on the far right. SPS took point, gently opening the door before sliding in, pistol pointed forward, gently going down the stairs. Galil stayed on top of the stairs, rifle trained on the doorway.

SPS peeked her head out a little, seeing nothing but a lobby. Furniture overturned and sandbags barricading the entrances; scattered weapons; T-dolls; and…

"Commander!" SPS yelled, causing Galil and Avaro to quickly come down.

"The fuck…"

"_What's wrong?"_ Icyln and Amelia instantly questioned, hearing shouting.

"I thought these fuckers were supposed to be in Black Zones only," Avaro quietly muttered as he examined the face.

ELID: Eurosky Low-Emission Infectious Disease.

From a distance, they might appear human, or at least like ones with a few mutations. Even so, the sunkenness and discoloration were unmistakable, as were the inhuman cries and their ability to withstand small arms fire.

_It's unlikely ELIDs would be smuggled out of the Black Zone; that would mean high casualty rates. The only alternative is making them._

Nothing sat right with him, and the possibility of these monstrosities being near his doorstep sure as hell didn't lower his blood pressure.

"Hey, Amelia, get in touch with Briggs," the commander spoke into the radio. "Tell him 'Avaro needs white cream'."

Amelia couldn't help but raise a brow at his request. "_As you wish. But what's 'white cream'?"_

"Don't worry about…" he became quiet. "Listen, I'm gonna go dark for a bit. Icyln, I'll radio you when I'm ready to extract." Before either could protest, the connection was killed.

"Listen closely." Avaro turned to SPS and Galil. "This—" he motioned toward the ELID corpses "—is now on a need to know basis. Say a peep to anyone, and I will send you for decommission. Do I make myself clear?"

SPS and Galil paled. What did they just see? And why didn't their commander want anyone else to know about this? He just threatened to effectively kill them off if they didn't keep their mouths shut.

They quietly gulped, then reluctantly nodded and walked out of the building with him. More T-doll and ELID corpses littered the exterior, some slumped over crudely constructed defenses as all forces tried to gain ground.

Bullet casings crunched into the snow as they quietly walked around as the helicopter flew around the area of operation. There was a pregnant silence. Was it the wryness of the base? Or the threat of death looming over the dolls' heads?

**\- - - - -**

Amelia sat in the commander's chair, waiting for their slow connection to attempt establishing connection…for the fourth time. Twice it had failed to establish a connection, _then _the Ethernet cable got loose.

"'Third time's the charm' my rear end…"

**Attempting connection…**

**Connection established…**

**Waiting on confirmation from 'Samuel Briggs'**

_So, that's his name. _Then again, addressing a commander by their first name was frowned upon, seen as disrespecting them. While it was nice to get a first name, it was really a useless piece of information.

_Come to think of it, I don't even know my own commander's first name._

The file she read addressed him as "Commander Jackson." Underneath that was a nickname given to him by his mentor, Rabbit; something about him liking to sleep in holes as a child. Otherwise, it contained small bits of information, such as his nationality.

His father was a mix of Mexican and American.

_Nowadays that really doesn't matter; after the third world war, the rest of the continent is now the United States._

While his mother was Ukrainian, the story was as typical as it got: two foreigners met, fell in love, moved back to the dad's country of origin, had a kid, and the rest, as they say, is history. How Jackson ended up here was unknown to her, as the rest of the information was, unsurprisingly, censored.

"Av~ I didn't think you would call so soon," a feminine voice cooed, to Amelia's surprise. With a name like Samuel Briggs, she expected hardened veteran or a man. However, when the cameras established, a woman frowned and raised a brow.

"_Oh, well, this is certainly intriguing."_ The woman wore an apron and had a duster at her side.

_Just who is this?_

"Apologies, but is this not the connection number for Commander Briggs?" Amelia double-checked the number Avaro had listed in his contact lists.

Before the unknown woman could respond, a male voice interrupted. "_Who's on the line, Jade?"_

That _must be Briggs._

"I presume you are Commander Briggs," Amelia decided to make herself known.

"_And who the bloody fuck are _you_?"_ The woman moved away and Briggs came into view. A man with light brown hair in a crew cut and a hazel eye, alert, as if picking her apart was normal. He had dark circles under his eyes and a scar running down his cheek.

He spat into a used water bottle, filled halfway with a dark liquid.

_Chewing tobacco. Guess that's where the commander picked up smoking._

Clearing her throat, she locked eyes with him. "I am Commander Jackson's logistics officer, Amelia Andrew. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

He slowly nodded in response, letting silence consume them for a beat before breaking it. "_Right. I assume you're authorized to use his laptop. What do you need?"_ His chair creaked as he leaned back.

"He told me to tell you that he needed—" she read off a paper "—'white cream'."

"_You sure you heard him right? Because I have no idea what the hell that means."_ He looked at his watch. "_Is that all? I have a meeting to get to and only stopped by to get a folder."_

"I see. I shall request for him—for —to reach out to you, so he may clarify. Good day to you, Commander Briggs." She killed the connection and sighed.

_I'm not dumb. He must have known what he wanted, but didn't want to say. Why?_

**\- - - - -**

Briggs sighed as he rubbed his temples. Jade on his left, hearing the conversation, looked worried at the mention of "white cream."

"Jade, be a dear and pour me a glass."

Jade frowned for a second then walked over to a small table, a few glass cups lined up neatly on either side of a bottle of rum.

"The hell does he need that shit for?"

**\- - - - -**

Avaro walked into the last building, the dorms. He saw more of the same things he'd seen throughout the base: bodies, defenses, and casings all over the floor.

Room by room, the group opened doors with guns drawn. They opened cabinets and closets and checked under desks. If it wasn't nailed down, they would flip it over and check around. So far, they had seen nothing, but a nagging feeling never left Avaro. The feeling of being watched. Of a wounded predator biding its time, waiting for its prey to leave. The predator was prey at that point, but the feeling remained.

"Guns up."

Avaro kicked in a door to a ruined dorm.

A body lay on a table…still breathing.

"Check the room." He switched his radio on: "Icyln, land on the roof. We got a live one."

The T-doll on the table was heavily wounded and, perhaps, had an infection. She was barely hanging on, but if she could walk again, it meant another body for deployment and less of a chance to get slaughtered outright.

As he was about to pick up the doll, a loud, high-pitched war cry let out and he was taken down to the ground.

"The fu—"

The butt of a gun was sent into his nose, followed by a loud crack.

"COMMANDER!" SPS cried as a gunshot rang out, hitting his assailant, followed by a thud.

"Oh, sun of a 'itch."

**\- - - - -**

SV held her side as the bullet left a nasty hole. Her heart dropped.

'_Commander'? Did I just attack a _commander_?!_

_Oh, god. If I'm not dead now, I certainly _will be… _If this bullet doesn't kill me._

**\- - - - -**

"I 'hink… wee hah… a miscommunication 'ere," Avaro stated as he stood. "Wee… are 'ere… to extract surfifing T-dolls."

"I… I… see…" his assailant weakly croaked out before collapsing.

"Galil, get her up. We're leafing." Galil rushed over to her target as the commander helped the T-doll on the table up.

As the group exited the ruined dorm, they were met with three guns.

Avaro sighs, exasperated.

_Should have done this sooner:_

"Commander ID 6-2-7, Jackson," he somehow managed to state clearly. The three gun-wielding dolls froze up.

"Follow." He ordered then switched on his radio: "Ant on the roof."

"_...Come again, sir?"_

"Oken nose. Ant on the roof."

**\- - - - -**

"_Wee shood be sheen shoon enough."_

True to his word, Iclyn saw multiple figures stepping out onto a roof. She lowered the chopper, seeing that the ground was clearer than before. She noted the bodies and barricades; the scene looked like something straight from the front lines…

_Oh, wait. This _is _the front lines._

Avaro got in the co-pilot's seat. She noticed how bent out of shape his nose was and didn't try at all to hide her laughter. She then quickly composed herself, ready to be reprimanded, only for him to chuckle.

"It alt good to laugh."

_I know it's the broken nose, but—He sounds so stupid!_

She couldn't help but cackle as the last doll sat down.

Without a word, her laughter died down as she set the coordinates back to the base, an amused smile remaining on her face.

_I don't have the best equipment, and my living conditions are a huge downgrade. But, compared to Tony, at least _he _has a sense of humor. Maybe it has to do with whatever this Briggs person showed him?_

**\- - - - -**

It was a quiet ride back to the base. On the way back, Avaro ordered the two dolls at the base to set up extra cots and prepare some medical equipment. He sounded odd, so Icyln had to translate. Amelia lectured him about how he should have been more careful or to have left it to SPS and Galil to search the area.

Avaro zoned out as Amelia droned on and on, wanting to be anywhere but there as his only echelon of dolls helped out the new arrivals. The two wounded dolls were placed into cots in the garage, which had been converted into a temporary medical bay.

Sometimes being a doll had its perks, such as faster healing, provided their fuel cells were sustained by consuming food. Additionally, unlike humans, dolls wouldn't get sick from eating too quickly, even if starved for an extended period of time.

While they were being patched up and getting IVS into them, Avaro sat in a chair as AR70 worked on his nose.

"_**MOTHERFUCKER!"**_

AR flinched, and Bren looked unamused at the commander's vocabulary. AR bent his nose back into place, then applied gauze and splinted it. She injected an unknown medication into his nose that would halve the normal healing time to a week.

"Try to be more careful in the near future, commander," AR scolded him. To her dismay, Avaro rolled his eyes before patting her on the head.

"When those two are healthy enough, kindly send them to my office." He walked out of the garage, only to momentarily stick his head back in. "Oh, and keep up the good work, you two!" He sent them a playful wink before finally disappearing.

Bren and AR looked at each other, silently agreeing to step up their efforts to keep the commander alive.

**Commander Jackson's Office**

Avaro sat at his desk before his laptop, sifting through statements, serial numbers, and reports detailing what exactly happened to their base: insurgencies, perhaps a fanatic sect, given suicide bombers were used.

_How did they get their hands on ELID infected? Or, rather, some form of them._

_The dolls reported they died to handgun ammunition. Something like that wouldn't affect a normal ELID. It's like shooting plastic BBs at someone, annoying but otherwise fairly harmless._

_I still have to call Briggs at some point_.

He looked at his desktop. Emails. Utility companies. Commanders of militias. Heads of companies. Resource orders.

_So many people, so little time._

He groaned, hitting his head against his desk, before a gentle knock came.

"Enter," he called out, his attention returning to the emails on his screen.

"Commander." SV-98 saluted, unable to look him in the eyes.

"Take a seat." Avaro didn't look up from his screen.

Click-click.

Click-click.

SV-98's mind raced, several scenarios playing out before her:

_Is he going to shoot me? Or send me back out into the wilderness? Is he going to leave me to die? Will he hunt me down for his amuse—?_

"So, question: do you want to be here?"

"E-excuse me?"

"Do you want to be here?" He briefly looked up from his screen to look at her. "If you say no, I won't be offended; I'll even pull a few strings, so you'll get to stay with your team and get a comfortable life," he stated, starting to type.

SV gaped, unsure how to react.

_I'm… getting a choice? Can I really just retire, no strings attached? Can I… Can I leave this hell hole once and for all?_

_But, my team… Surely they have a say for themselves._

"Before you ask, your team wanted me to ask _you_, saying you kept them alive this far and they trust your judgment." He never paused his rapid typing. Avaro noticed her breathing becoming more shallow and quicker, but didn't say anything.

_Damn emails need to be sent soon. If the higher-ups get bitched at, _I _get bitched at._

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

SV could only focus on his fingers tapping against the keys.

_He's typing. Why? Was he lying about what he said?_

…_He's probably doing the proper paperwork to send me for scrap parts, for my breaking his nose._

"It's nothing bad. Just some people wanting my attention."

SV tensed up.

_How could he know what I'm think—?_

"You're making a face." He leaned on his fist. "And, no, I don't really care that you broke my nose—Okay, I was a _little _annoyed at first, but I didn't exactly make my presence all that friendly," he elaborated.

"I-I…"

"Look, I'll be frank with you: I need experienced dolls. Don't get me wrong, I like the dolls I _have_, but—"

"They're relying on the simulations," SV cut him off, only to quickly cover her mouth.

Avaro grinned. "Yes, that's exactly it. They have no experience outside of their programming. And the simulations they ran—As much as it pains me to say this—"

"They're going to get themselves killed in actual combat." SV didn't cover her mouth this time.

"Exactly. That, and we're low on numbers," Avaro continued. "However, if you want to retire, no hard feelings. My offer still stands, I'm a man of my word."

SV looked down at her hands.

_I could leave and not deal with those… those _things _again._

She intertwined her hands together, rubbing her right thumb against her left.

_Those other dolls don't have a clue. What to do. Our attackers' tactics._

The T-doll bit the inside of her mouth.

_A comfortable life. A warm bed to wake up in. No more fighting. No chance of getting left behind to hold a base meant to fall…_

_No being left to die again…_

Ten minutes of silence passed before SV spoke up again.

"…Sir?" Her volume was barely above a whisper.

"Hmm?" Avaro leaned his head away from his screen, locking eyes with her again.

"I think…" she began. SV took a deep breath, steeling herself. "I think we'll stay."

Avaro cracked a grin and held his hand out to her. "Pleasure to have you around. Now, go tell your team. Make sure they're in agreement, get some new clothing, and, of course, get some rest."

SV stood up. She took his hand and firmly shook it.

Avaro still had a stupid grin on his face after she left his office before realizing—

"Oh, shit! I never got the information I needed… Fuuuck!"

**Day 25, Three Days Later**

Standing at attention were a total of 27 dolls, wearing nice, neat matching uniforms suited for a Yellow Zone environment.

SV paced by, checking to see if anything was out of place. She stopped before Bren and raised a brow. Bren raised a brow back, thinking she was fine and that this particular SV model was just being a hardass (even for her).

Someone cleared their throat.

SV turned to find Avaro looking very amused. "Nicely done, SV, but I'm afraid I'll have to cut your training for today short. We have something to do."

"Understood, Commander." She saluted, making Avaro chuckle.

"I'll never get used to this, but anyway, go to the garage. Briefing will be in a few minutes, but I'm afraid I need to get something I left in my office."

Avaro turned and walked away.

In the three days since her rescue, SV started a semi-daily training program, getting the dolls accustomed to firing weapons in chaos. She used speakers that played loud mock gunfire, which led her to believe they had a long way to go.

Outside of training, she and her echelon were sent to the remains of the two other bases to rescue dolls. Unsurprisingly, most were tier-two dolls led by a tier-three doll. The two sister bases had more time to set up proper defenses, as SV's previous commander had managed to get a warning out before communications were cut off.

The successes of the rescues, unfortunately, meant a lot more work for Avaro: getting down serial numbers, registering them to his command, requesting more resources, and applying pressure, as his dolls (along with Icyln and Amelia) were rather cramped in the barracks, and there was now a long line for the showers. Despite the increased workload, Avaro was elated to have an official (and in his book, great) cook, to M40's joy, who received praise for her work, and to the dismay of VM, who muttered that she wasn't made to cook.

For now, it would seem things were looking up for the commander.


	4. Silver Lining to Sticky Vomit

"You look rather pale," one of the militia commanders commented. Avaro rubbed his temples and shrugged it off, claiming it was just a headache, and continued the meeting, explaining routes for logistical vehicles and plans for setting up security at the utility plants to the local militia commanders and mayors of the new towns.

Several meetings that went on for hours spanned over several days. At each meeting, someone always pointed out how he looked like "absolute shit" and offered to postpone the meeting, and each time, Avaro insisted on pressing forward, and so they did. After each meeting, Avaro was left with multiple copies of the same maps, all with different markings and potential roads. Only… they all ran through the old towns that went dark, through places he'd failed to scout out, as he had other pressing matters to attend to.

**One Week Later**

Avaro hunched over slightly, trying to suppress a cough with his fist. "Just got something stuck in my throat," he tried to compose himself, for the third time in two minutes, before returning to his thought. This did not go unnoticed by anyone on the base. Several T-dolls, Amelia, and Icyln took turns scolding him, reminding him to not exhaust himself; he was notorious for doing paperwork at irregular hours, for hours on end, and waking before everyone and sleeping long after everyone (things the human body wasn't meant for) in addition to his poor diet. The commander always responded that he was fine, even if the coughing fits suggested otherwise. He still walked around, and he tended to lock himself up in his office, so no one bothered questioning him.

His health continued to decline, as the next day he woke with a fever. No one would know if he just kept trudging along, but he didn't take into account his constant spacing out. On a hunch, SV and SPS pressed the backs of their hands against his forehead. Unsurprisingly, he was burning up, and they practically begged on their hands and knees for him to sleep. But again, he shrugged it off and insisted he was fine, despite the very visible fact that he wasn't.

"Your stubbornness is going to catch up with you someday!"

As it turned out "someday" would be the very next day. He took two steps out of his room and vomited out what little sustenance he had in his stomach. He propped himself up against his doorway and dry heaved for a while before vomiting again. SV and Icyln happened to walk out of the barracks as he did so.

With a small weak smile, he looked up to them. "I know this looks bad, but I'm fi—"

His bloodshot eyes practically popped out of their sockets as he let out another round of vomit onto the snow.

That was the last straw.

The two carried Avaro back to his bed, ignoring his protests.

"I swear, I'm fine," he groaned out as SV tucked him into bed.

"Normally, it's not my place to say when you're fine and when you're not, but that—" SV pointed out the door, toward the pile of brown chunks in the snow "—_clearly_ indicates you're not 'fine'. What did we say about exhausting yourself!?" Avaro started to slowly take off his blanket, only for her to quickly wrap him in it again.

"Watch the commander," Icyln commanded. "I'm gonna try to get a doctor down here." SV nodded then turned her attention back to Avaro… who was trying to escape his comfortable prison again.

**\- - - - -**

Icyln searched the commander's office for any form of contact information. All she saw were numbers with less than humorous contact names like "Fat Water Pig" or "Sunshine Power". The only one with a proper contact name was Briggs.

"..."

It was early, and it was kind of a Hail Mary if Briggs _responded_; it would be an even _bigger _miracle if he wasn't pissed off at being disturbed this early into his day.

She hesitantly hovered over the "Call" button but ended up clicking it and waited a moment for someone to answer the line.

"_Avaro, I'm still working on your request, but I still need a bit of ti— Who the fuck are you?"_ Briggs went off, seeing someone who clearly wasn't Avaro.

"Icyln, sir. Commander Jackson's only pilot," she somewhat proudly stated as Briggs signed papers just out of view of the camera.

"Is he sick?" he offhandedly asked, stunning Icyln for a second.

"Y-Yes."

Icyln heard a heavy sigh escape from Briggs and him calling out for someone named Jade.

"_Yes, dear?"_ a feminine voice called back from off-screen while Briggs started to jot down a list of some sort and fill out what appeared to be a check.

"_Catch a chopper to Jackson's base. He's sick,"_ Briggs grumbled out.

"_Did he not heed my advice to stop working so much?"_ Jade huffed, clearly annoyed. Icyln caught glimpses of flowing blonde hair as the woman moved to pick up items.

"_You know how he is."_ Briggs gave her a quick peck and the sound of a door opening and closing could be heard shortly. "_Expect my wife at the base in a day or two. In the meantime, try to keep Jackson in bed, no matter what he says or does."_

The connection went dead after that statement and Icyln sat there, wondering what to do next.

_Now that I think about it, there's no second in command. The commander's been too busy to designate that role to someone._

…

_For now, I'll pull the rank card and be in charge until the commander is fit for duty again._

She pulled out a two-way radio that was held together by duct tape and switched it to the frequency broadcasting to all officer dolls on base: "Emergency meeting concerning Commander Jackson's health; report in to the meeting garage. I repeat, emergency meeting concerning Commander Jackson's health; report to the meeting garage."

Icyln left the office after her announcement and watched as small echelons of dolls trotted through the snow to the brightly lit garage. As she entered the garage, she scoped the room, noting that some echelons leaned against the walls while others sat on empty crates or crude lawn chairs.

Icyln took a deep breath and let out a high-pitched whistle with her fingers, earning the dolls' attention, causing them to flock around her. As expected, they bombarded her with questions about the commander's condition, increasing in volume and inching forward with each query.

_**Crack.**_

The room fell deathly silent at the sound of a round going off. The others looked for its source, leading them to… _Amelia!?_

She held a smoking revolver and then shrank into herself upon realizing that all eyes were on her. Icyln sent a small nod of thanks her way before loudly clearing her throat, regaining everyone's attention.

"I'm sure it's no secret that recently our commander's health has declined. As such, it is our job to ensure a speedy recovery and no—"

"Commander, _get back to BED!_" the shrill voice of SV called out after the stubborn commander as he stood in the snowy field, covering his ears with his hands, groaning "No need for you to scream." Next thing they knew, SV was using her android strength to drag Avaro back into his room, resulting in varied faces of disbelief and horror.

"...This leads me to my other point…" Icyln began again awkwardly. "As we have just witnessed, the commander insists on working in spite of his sickness. As such, we will need to watch him in rotations until the 'doctor' I've called arrives."

The dolls nodded their heads in agreement. Icyln then realized that she would have to assign an echelon on the fly, as she didn't have time to properly draw up a rotation schedule. She pointed towards the closest one; coincidentally, it was the echelon that SPS was in charge of.

"Echelon… Phoenix?" Her voice was small and unsure, as she hadn't had time to properly acquaint herself with all of the teams and their respective dolls.

"Phoenix is correct." SPS stepped forward a bit, the dolls under her command following suit.

"Echelon Phoenix," she repeated more confidently, "will watch the commander until lunchtime, and after lunch…" Her eyes searched the sea of dolls until she found another familiar face. "Halcyon squad will take over until lights out. From there, it will be like a fire watch: pairs of bunk-mates will watch him for two hours at a time. Other than that, just go about your usual duties. Dismissed."

Everyone slowly filed out of the garage and went to their respective duties, which consisted of the usual kitchen, guard, and laundry duties, as well as the new duty of commander watch. M45 and two other dolls headed toward the kitchen. Some trekked toward the end of the established area. As expected, watching the commander was not a quiet or easy task, as the commander made several attempts to return to work, only to be dragged back into his bed.

**The Next Day**

**Tuesday**

**Day 40(?) of Active Duty**

**Day 15(?) of the commander being sick**

Jade Briggs. The first and only oathed doll of Commander Briggs. At the time, she was a Tier 2 Gr G3 doll, which, when Briggs popped the question, surprised her and many other dolls. Normally, Tier 4 or 5 dolls tend to get such a thing—occasionally a Tier 3—rarely a Tier 2. But when it happened, it sparked a lot of gossip, but the Tier 2 doll beamed with pride.

Maybe one day she would have her own child, but for the most part, she considered Avaro her adopted child. For a little over a decade, she helped clean, clothe, and teach him when Briggs was granted custody of him. Avaro may be a grown man now, but, to her, he would always be that small child who clung to her leg when he was in trouble or felt lonely. The small child she tucked into bed and baked cakes for. And _especially _the small child she had doted on and nursed when he fell ill.

Now, here she is, doing the exact same thing she did years ago, but not completely alone this time, as she had another doll, and potentially more, to aid in his care.

Across from her and the elderly Doctor Maxis was a T-doll in a maid uniform with long blonde hair in a braid and green eyes. GR G36. She sat perfectly upright, her gloved hands folded neatly in her lap, her weapon carefully tucked under her seat with the magazine taken out as a precaution. She was highly sought after because her personality was ideal for the perfect maid, though her model was rather hard to come by. That is, unless you know a few technicians who were working on "backed up orders."

_Technically_, she belonged to Briggs, but in a few moments, she would belong to Avaro. Briggs opted to have another Tier 4 doll assigned to Avaro, but Jade _insisted _on this model, as this likely wouldn't be the last time Avaro would get seriously sick from overworking himself.

"Approaching LZ," the pilot called. In the distance, a flare glowed in the zone as the skeleton of a base came into view. Jade slightly cringed seeing the state of the base. Buildings in the process of being constructed. Crude kitchens, showers, and temporary barracks.

_Maybe it isn't exhaustion, but rather some sort of infection…_

The elderly doctor rubbed his chin in contemplation. "I may haffe to change up mein Horiginal itea," he mused, his wrinkles turning into a frown.

The helicopter slowly descended. Jade noticed the T-dolls watching, but paid more attention to the two humans waiting nearby to greet them. She recognized one from their brief video call a while ago and she deduced that the other female was Icyln.

The side door slid open. GR G36 stepped out of the helicopter quickly yet gracefully then helped Jade and the elderly doctor step down, before turning her attention to the light luggage Jade had packed for the trip.

"On behalf of our commander, we welcome you to our little section of hell," Iclyn greeted to the amusement of Jade. G36 simply rolled her eyes upon hearing the not so pleasant comment about the base.

**\- - - - -**

Avaro lay in bed, dolls standing around him or sitting on the floor, either watching him or foiling his attempts to get up and work.

For what might have been the tenth time in the last hour, Avaro rolled off his bed and hit the floor with an "umpth."

"_Commander_," SPS lightly groaned, "you have to say in bed for your own well-being." She and MP40 picked him up from the floor just as Amelia held open the door for Iclyn and three unknown people—an elderly man in a white coat, a Gr G3 T-doll in a black dress, and a GR G36 doll in a maid uniform—to step into the room. SPS noticed that the commander's eyes lit up at the sight of the Gr G3 T-doll.

"Didn't I warn you not to overwork yourself?"

In the short few months SPS had come to know Avaro, she'd never seen him try to hide beneath his sheets, as he was doing now.

"…Maybe…"

The Gr G3 T-doll looked him over. "You've gotten so thin, and pale! You haven't been taking care of yourself, _have you_!?" She pressed her forehead to his. "And you have a fever!"

Avaro opened his mouth to say something, only to quickly cover it with one hand and frantically reach for a nearby waste bin with the other. He dry heaved a few times before emptying clear, sticky vomit into the empty receptacle caked with dried mucus. There was a moment of relief where he was hunched over the canister, gasping for air, before he spewed out another round of vomit.

The elderly man, who had been assessing the situation, examined his patient more closely. On walking over to Avaro's left side, he noticed his arm. It was swollen and green.

"His sditches are Hinfected."

Jade eyed Avaro, who was trying to sink even further into his bed.

"…I might have had a few accidents here an' there… an' never said anything about it…"

"Unless you wish to see him naked, I would advise vacating the room," the elderly doctor stated as he opened up his bag. Everyone, minus Jade and GR G36, left.

"So, Maxis, how've you been?" Avaro lay shirtless with some festering wounds exposed.

"I can't comblain. Glad to know zome zings neffer change," the elderly man remarked as he picked up Avaro's arm and started removing sutures. Sickly yellow-green pus oozed out onto the arm, followed by yellow liquid mixed with blood. Maxis clicked his tongue and shook his head as he cleaned the arm and continued removing the remaining stitches. He needed to remove the dead or damaged tissue, which meant more pus and yellow liquid.

Jade flinched. Seeing someone that she had raised for a good portion of their life would _allow _himself to get into such a state… At this point, she just wished he had overworked himself.

Although GR G36 appeared calm on the outside, on the inside, her stomach churned. She was horrified. She wondered why her new master allowed himself to get into such a state. And how often she would have to keep tabs on him.

"Arm's done. Now ve moffe onto zee other, zen zee chest und leg," Maxis stated casually as he rinsed his hands and tools with alcohol before drying them with clean cloths.

Avaro kept quiet for the most part, only letting out the occasional hiss. Surgical knives reopened infected wounds. Tissue was removed. The wounds were properly re-closed.

Maxis cleaned his hands and tools each time before he moved onto another wound. The delicate, and rather messy, process took up most of the day. All of the pus, blood, or drainage soaked rags were tossed into a thick dark bag marked "hazard" before the MP40 doll was instructed to burn them. Maxis retrieved a tube of cream and handed to Avaro.

"Ably zis to your vounds undil your prescripzion Harriffes in ein few days."

"Right. But does this mean I can get back to work now?" Avaro impatiently asks, to Maxis's annoyance.

"Nein. You must rest. Don't do Hanything to Haggraffate or reoben your vounds."

Jade took a seat on the edge of Avaro's bed while Maxis packed his tools and GR stood with her hands neatly folded.

Avaro looks softly at Jade then sighs. "I get the feeling you can't stay, so you're having her—" Avaro tilted his head toward GR G36 "—stay to watch over me."

Jade chuckled softly before playfully pinching his cheeks. Avaro whined a bit and tried to pull away, but Jade wasn't letting go. "You know me well, but this wouldn't be necessary if _you _simply stopped doing actions that get you hurt so often."

Avaro just shrugged. She continued pinching his cheeks for a bit longer before pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead. "GR G36 will be under your command and will make sure you take care of yourself since I can't."

Avaro quietly chuckled, his head now on her lap, as she hummed and gently ran her fingers through his short hair.

His eyelids fluttered shut as he thought back to those first few weeks when they gained custody of him. Briggs was always busy, leaving six year old Avaro with Jade most of the time. Day after day, he went to the post office, wondering if his biological mother had sent a letter, or to the public communication stations, hoping she would pick up this time. Jade never lost patience with him, always waiting with him while he wrote a letter or tried to establish a communication line. Afterwards, she would take him for a small treat or a walk around the town.

It seemed like a lifetime ago, yet he could remember it all as if it were yesterday. Running around the base as Jade chased him to take a bath or go to bed. Clinging to her leg when he started school or went to the doctor for vaccination shots.

Jade chuckled softly as she tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. "He's asleep." She watched as Avaro's chest slowly rose and fell, his breathing soft. She continued stroking his hair for a few more moments before gently placing his head back onto his pillow and tucking him in. Carefully, Jade gets up from the bed. She takes one last look at Avaro's sleeping face and brushes a few strands of hair away from his face before motioning for the other two to follow her out of the room.

Gently closing the door behind them, they took in the sights of the base. Dolls running around, running drills or doing chores. Boxes of ammunition and crates of food that would be ready to prepare for the next day's meals. Dolls digging through the snow and dumping them into large crude metallic containers with metal heating pipes melting the snow. A set of pipes going underground, she assumed to keep the water from freezing, and another set that connected the pump house with even more underground pipes connecting to the showers and laundry areas.

"How's the commander doing?" Iclyn called out to the trio from the other side, Amelia holding a clipboard in tow.

"He's doing better now; hoveffer, in zee future, keep ein clozer eye on him…" he warned. "He had many Hinfected vounds vith dead tizue; he vas on zee brink of death," Maxis stated bluntly. "Make zure he rests und, ven his prescripzion Harriffes, zat he takes zee pills."

The pilot fired up the helicopter as Maxis made his way, cane in tow, to it.

Jade, GR G36, Amelia, and Icyln stood in silence for a beat.

"Well, this certainly has been something, but I'm afraid I must be on my way." Jade turned to GR and handed her a small book. "Please take good care of him." She turned to join the elderly doctor in the helicopter.

GR glanced over the book in her possession. It had a blank cover, but the first page read "Avaro Jackson's Favorite Dishes and Drinks." She thumbed through a few pages, noting the simplicity of the dishes. She reached a section that was titled "In Case of Sickness." Once again, simple recipes, ranging from a simple chicken soup to a fruit smoothie made with strawberries and orange juice. The most complex things she found in the book were a cheesecake and a multiple meat pizza. For now, she would stick with "In Case of Sickness" section until the commander was healthy again.

_I've got a long road ahead of me._ GR sighed to herself and lifted her head a bit. _His health won't decline to such a degree again. Not if I have anything to say about it._

Amelia trembled a little and bit the inside of her cheek. Her first commander had nearly died so soon into his service. It wouldn't have looked good on her record, even if it wasn't her fault.

Icyln stood there, eyes trained on the floor, ashamed of herself for not noticing sooner and how something like that could have ended her career, especially after she had punched her last commanding officer.

_Damn the commander._ _Always keeping to himself!_ Icyln grit her teeth. _That nasty habit of his nearly cost us our jobs._ Icyln groaned before composing herself.

_Thankfully, none of the other dolls got wind of what could have happen—_

A series of footsteps quickly left the area.

"Fuck."

**Wednesday**

**Day 41 of Active Duty**

**Day 17 of the commander being sick day**

_Oh god, why is there so much noise coming from the outside?_

While he didn't feel as warm, Avaro still felt like shit, and his head was still spinning.

_Okay, easy does it…_

He slowly inched one foot onto the icy floor, the other following soon after. His muscles ached, wanting nothing more than to lie back down and sleep. Yawning, he slowly trudged toward his small closet and fished out a blue combat shirt and slipped into black combat pants. He didn't have the energy to put socks or even his boots on. Upon opening the door, he was met with GR trying to hold back a swarm of T-dolls, all worriedly asking to see him or if he was going to die.

"Oh, what the fuck…" he muttered, eyes squinting at the sight before him. GR noticed Avaro and gently shoved an M1911 T-doll who wanted to touch him.

"Many apologies for waking you, master, but these T-dolls wanted to see you."

Avaro rubbed his temples, feeling a migraine coming on as the noise started to get louder and louder.

"To hell with it…"

He sighed and shot his hand up, silencing them. All eyes were on him.

"I'm sure you've heard about my brush with death, and that you're all worried about my health. But for fuck's sakes, ask Icyln, Amelia, GR G36, or even SV about my condition—Hell, ask your team leader to inquire about me." He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger then rubbed the space between his eyebrows, eyes glaring tired daggers at the dolls. "But for the love of all that's holy, do not try to storm my fucking room," he enunciated.

He was rather quiet, but it made them feel ashamed, and it hurt worse when he slammed the door on them.

"That took a lot more out of me than it should…" His left leg hung off his bed. His eyes lazily drifted to his mirror. His face contorted a little. "God, I look like shit…"

His slightly tanned skin, now almost as pale as the snow that fell around the base. His shirt that once clung to his skin now looked like pajamas.

He rolled off his bed and hit the floor with a thud. He crawled to his little closet, stopping half-way to catch his breath. He licked his chapped lips, rolled onto his back, and stared at the ceiling.

_How long has it been since I last had water? Or food? I'm ready to tear off someone's head for a simple cup of water._

Everything seemed to be catching up. He used what little strength he had to curl up into a ball to comfort himself from the stomach pains. His head was pounding. The small draft of warm air from his heater made his teeth chatter and his body shake.

"Commander!" GR G36 screeched. Gasps escaped from two other dolls. "You need to stay in bed."

Despite her small frame, she managed to carry Avaro bridal style and walk the short distance to his bed. Using one hand, she pulled back his sheets and was ready to put him on the bed, but stopped when she saw that his sheets soaked in, what she hoped was, sweat.

"On second thought, we'll have to make a temporary bed."

Galil and SPS gagged a little at the sight of his soiled bed and at the thought of how dirty the commander must be.

To say it was an eventful morning was putting it lightly. Galil and SPS were tasked with washing his laundry and sanitizing his room—wiping down the table, and acquiring a new mattress and sheets. GR G36 was needed for something a little more… intimate. Avaro couldn't do much that wouldn't leave him out of breath, so with assistance… he was bathed in the showers. Not something GR expected to do, and more than once, Avaro insisted he could bathe himself, only to fall flat on his ass.

Donning clean clothes, Avaro was carried by the somewhat fazed GR back to his room, where he was promptly tucked into bed. To no one's surprise, the commander made several pitiful attempts to get out of bed. Eventually, Avaro exhausted himself into a deep sleep.

_Taking care of the commander is going to be a lot more troublesome than I initially thought._ GR let out a small annoyed sigh. _Despite how seriously his wounds got infected, he insists he's fine. He's far too proud and stubborn._

_I might have to drag him to his meals and to his own bed. But more importantly, he can't get severely injured or infected again._

She could have gotten a more calm post, but a calm post often has no need for a maid like her. Perhaps being stationed in a rather barren area was a blessing in disguise. Nonetheless, she would attend to the commander's needs, and make sure he recovered back to more or less perfect health, until she was no longer needed.


	5. Chapter 5

To all those who read this, I do deeply apologize for the sudden disappearance and then this.

Why did I go, poof? Sold my soul to the government for the next few years. Fun times, but could be worse!

Why did I rewrite the story? I wasn't entirely happy with the last version and during bootcamp had time to think about it and plan.

When will the rewrite go up? Well, it should be up right and a link should be below!

s/13601544/1/Down-the-Rabbit-hole


End file.
